Star Trek: Predator - A New Alliance
by Kehlan
Summary: A Yautja elder must negotiate a new alliance with the Federation and the Klingon Empire. But the Federation captain is missing and a traitor will do whatever it takes to stop the treaty
1. Chapter 1

Just a few words of explanation. I originally wrote this story with a friend and abandoned it as I was not happy with the way her parts were written. Some reviewers felt that there was too much self praise (and a hefty dose of Mary-Sueism) going on and I was in agreement with that assessment. Rather than offend I let the story drop and never finished it. I am now in a position to reclaim my story and am attempting to rewrite it the way I always wanted to. All my ex-friend's writing has been removed and all her characters replaced. Some chapters (the ones originally written by me) will remain very similar, others are completely different. I very much that anyone who read this story before, will consider it an improvement - and If you are reading it for the first time, I hope you enjoy it. thank you for reading... I look forward to your comments.

Chapter 1:

The Predator Elder stood on the observation deck of his ship, looking out at the planet below. The whole of the front of the room was one massive screen, making it seem as though there was nothing there at all between him and the world below, as though you could just step off the ship and into space. It was a beautiful world, the Elder thought, an unspoilt, tropical world covered with mile after mile of lush, virgin jungle. The hunting would be good. It had been many years since his people had hunted here and the prey had had plenty of time to flourish and multiply. A very long time ago, almost too long ago for him to remember, he had faced his _Kainde Amedha Chiva_ here, the rite of passage that marked his entry into adulthood and the beginning of his life as a warrior. Those who had been the elders then had miscalculated badly. The hard meats had done well here, too well, and had spread across the planet in far greater numbers than anyone had realised. Of all the young unblooded potential warriors to take part in that hunt, there had been twenty of them, he remembered, he had been the only one to come back alive – only just alive admittedly, but he had not only survived, he had brought back his first trophy, the skull of the hard meat queen.

Despite his advanced years, the elder was still impressive to behold. Age had not weakened him and although he could no longer move with the same lightning speed he had possessed in his youth, he had gained knowledge and wisdom over the years. There was still no-one on board who could defeat him and those who tried were lucky if they survived the experience. Every morning without fail, he could be found practicing in the training rooms and sometimes, if his mood was good, he would deign to spar with the unblooded ones, training them and passing on vital skills to the next generation of warriors.

He was of average height for a Yautja, standing maybe seven and a half feet tall and his frame was toned and muscular. His deep set eyes glowed a warm amber hue, his skin was creamy in colour, mottled with darker colours, accentuated by the heated netting he wore. His hair, if hair it could be called, hung down his back, almost to his waist, thick iron-grey appendages adorned with gold rings that told the story of just a few of his many battles.

A soft clicking sound brought the Elder's attention back to the present and he turned his back on the view, to see two young warriors approaching him. They came to a halt, remaining a respectful distance from him and bowed. Seeing that they had brought his gauntlets, he held out his arms and waited. Obeying the unspoken order, they stepped forward and fastened the gauntlets onto the Elder's arms.

Slowly the Elder lowered his gaze to inspect the gauntlets that had just been placed on his wrists. Highly polished and ornate, they shone with a muted bronze glow. With one clawed finger, the elder activated the computer embedded in the right gauntlet and checked it over. He gave a click of satisfaction. So far everything was in order. Now to check the weapons. Clenching his fist, he made a slight movement with his wrists and with a faint whisper of metal on metal, long, serrated blades came shooting out. He clenched his fists again, retracting the blades, mandibles flaring in what for him was a smile. Nodding his approval he dismissed the two young bloods.

He was ready now. The representatives of the Federation and the Klingons would be arriving soon and he would go on board their ship to begin negotiations. Negotiations, the elder thought with a moment of disgust. There had been a time when the Yautja people did not negotiate with their prey. But the Oomans, to give them their old slang name, and the Klingons were no longer prey, had not been for many years now. He was one of the very few warriors still alive who could actually claim to have hunted either species and he still had their skulls in his trophy room. Those had been the good days, he thought. He had not hunted for a long time – he was old now and no longer needed the thrill, and if he were honest it had got boring after a while. Even so, and even knowing he was doing what was best for his people, it still seemed strange to be opening negotiations with beings he had once hunted.

Footsteps sounded, coming closer and the Elder growled. He had given orders that he was not to be disturbed. Who was it that dared to disobey him? The Yautja that entered was a tall, powerful looking individual. Kihr'yende was an experienced warrior and the captain of the ship. He was also the Elder's son and seeing him, the Elder relaxed and allowed himself a slight smile. Of all his offspring, he was most proud of this one, the oldest of his sons.

Kihr'yende approached his father and bowed before speaking. He was on duty and his word were formal, the words of a ship's captain to the Clan Elder, not those of a son to his beloved father. "Honoured Elder, the ships approach and your shuttle is ready."

"Have they made contact yet?" As he asked the question, the Elder moved across the room, picking up his cloak and throwing it across his shoulders, his claws nimbly fastening the chain that held it in place. Deep red in colour, the heavy fabric fell in graceful folds to the ground, swaying in time with the movements of the elder.

"Yes sir, a few minutes ago." Kihr'yende answered respectfully, "As we were informed they have sent two ships, the IKV Ch'Tang, under the command of General Khetara _epetai _Rustadh." He pronounced the unfamiliar name slowly and carefully before continuing "representing the Klingon Empire."

The Elder nodded "And the other ship?"

The younger predator checked his notes "The USS Endeavour, commanded by Fleet Captain Kehlan _sutai_ Inigan." Again Kihr'yende was careful in his pronunciation of the alien name. "As I understand it, she is also Klingon, but works for the Federation."

The Elder nodded his understanding. "They have sent females to negotiate then" he commented thoughtfully, "I wonder if they understand the significance of that or if it is just coincidence." It was a rhetorical question, one to which he neither expected nor received an answer. Yautja culture was shrouded in mystery to outsiders and the Federation had no way of knowing just how much power the females held over their male counterparts. Saying 'no' to a female was not easy for a Yautja male and sometimes, it could be suicidal. The elder shrugged, he would just have to deal with it. They were prey he reminded himself, honoured prey maybe but still prey and he would not allow the femininity of their negotiators to distract him from his purpose.

"It is time, Honoured One" Kihr'yende reminded his father, "The honour guard is waiting for you in the shuttle bay."

"The honour guard will not be coming with us" the Elder said. At his son's look of surprise, he continued, "I'm taking you and Da'rian. No other escort is necessary."

Despite his disapproval of his father's decision, Kihr'yende did agree with his choice of Da'rian to accompany them. The commander of the honour guard was not only a formidable warrior but a skilled diplomat as well. "It shall be as you command."

"Then we leave now" the elder said, and with those words he turned and walked through the door and into the corridor. Kihr'yende followed and together, father and son headed towards the shuttle bay. The mission was about to begin.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting at the desk in her office, just off the bridge of the elderly battle cruiser she commanded, General Khetara _epetai _Rustadh considered the mission that lay ahead of her. It was only a month since her promotion to flag rank and this would be her first major mission. No doubt, she thought grimly, her superiors expected her to fail. The only female to currently hold the rank of General, there had been many who had vehemently disapproved of her promotion. Well, she would disappoint her detractors, prove them wrong. It might be true that her House name had assisted her, her family were after all a powerful one, well represented in the High Council, but her battle record spoke for itself.

She gave a fierce grin as she thought of the vessel that had carried her through those battles. The IKV Ch'Tang might be old but it was not toothless. She had commanded this ship through the Dominion War, had fought battle after battle and had brought her crew through the worst of it, not only alive, but victorious. Since then, she had served with honour as part of the joint Federation/Klingon Rapid Response Fleet based at Starbase 24. The once rampant pirates and smugglers had long since learned to fear the name Ch'Tang. In her admittedly biased opinion, the crew of the Ch'Tang were the best in the Defence Force and old or not, there was no other ship she would rather have as her flagship.

Reaching across her desk she picked up the mission briefing and studied it again, although by now she could recite it from memory. Her orders were to meet with the Federation ship USS Endeavour, under the command of her old friend, Fleet Captain Kehlan _sutai_ Inigan.

It would not be the first time that the two ships and their crews had worked together but things had changed since then. Now she, Khetara, was the senior officer. With her recent promotion, she now outranked her old friend and colleague. She'd spoken with Kehlan only a few minutes ago, instructing her to beam across at sixteen hundred hours to finish their preparations for the mission. It seemed odd to be giving orders to the one who had been her senior during those years at the Federation base. Not that Kehlan begrudged it though. The other woman had been genuinely pleased for her, had been very vocal in her opinion that it was about time the Defence Force rewarded Khetara as she deserved.

Female officers did not get the recognition that they should, Khetara mused. Kehlan had been wise to accept the transfer to the Federation during the Dominion War, a transfer that had eventually led to her marriage to a Federation officer and promotion to the captaincy of a Federation starship. Her friend was technically Houseless, although she had later been adopted into the House of Inigan, and had she remained in the Defence Force, would never have been allowed to progress past science officer. It was unfair, Khetara acknowledged, but that was the way things were. She hoped that her own promotion to flag rank would open the door for other deserving women to take their rightful place.

The mission the two ships had been given was a very important one. When they reached the agreed upon Rendezvous point, they would be met by a third ship, a vessel of the Yautja - a race long thought to be nothing more than legend. This would be First Contact, but Khetara was always wary.

For centuries the Klingon people had named the aliens 'Hunters' and told stories about their deeds; tales of monsters who appeared from the sky and slaughtered the warriors who stood against them before mysteriously disappearing, had long been told to frighten errant children into obedience. Myths and legends, nothing more... Until now! Suddenly, with the arrival of a cryptic message, the stories had come true.

Khetara frowned. So the Hunters were real. In fact, not only were they real but they had made contact and wanted to talk. Well, it would be interesting. Too often, first contact, for the Klingons, meant little more than another race to be subjugated and put into its place as _Jegh'pu'wI_, servants of the Klingon Empire but there was nothing _kuve, _nothing servile, about the Yautja. Whether friend or foe remained to be seen, but one thing was certain, they would be a worthy adversary. Her frown gave way to a smile at the thought. If she were lucky, she would get a chance to fight them. If the stories had even the slightest basis in reality, it would be a battle worthy of song.

Her train of thought was disturbed by a shrill squeal from the comm. system. She winced at the strident sound, making a mental note to have her engineering team look at the emitters. Thankfully the noise quickly vanished, to be replaced by the voice of her first officer, Commander Kreltek.

"General, The Yautja ship has arrived. They are hailing us"

"On my way" Rising to her feet, Khetara picked up the uniform jacket she had left lying across the back of her chair and put it on, sliding her d'ktagh back into its customary place in her belt, before heading for the bridge. Her command chair was empty and waiting for her. On a Klingon ship, only the captain would sit in that chair. For any other to do so would be disrespectful.

Taking her seat, she glanced at the Lieutenant at the communications console. The grey haired warrior was old for his rank. He'd retired to raise a family after almost thirty years of service, then re-enlisted for a second tour of duty when his sons were grown and had become warriors themselves. Old or not, he was good at his job and she was glad to have him on board her ship. "Lt K'Vin, open a channel to the Yautja."

"Channel open, General" the old warrior reported, "Audio only, the Yautja ship is not accepting visual transmission"

Khetara leaned forward slightly, aware of the silent tension of her crew as she began a carefully thought out speech "I am General Khetara _epetai_ Rustadh, I command this joint mission on behalf of the Federation/Klingon alliance. With me is Captain Kehlan who is preparing to beam over now. If you receive this, please respond in the same good will in which this message is sent…"


	3. Chapter 3

_The predator Elder handed the spear to the human woman and stepped back. Swinging round to face his ship, the action sending his waist length dreadlocks flying in an arc around his head, he stalked back on board, the doors closing behind him. The ship rose silently into the air, upwards and out of orbit, into the cold depths of space, leaving the woman alone in the icy, frozen wasteland that was Antarctica…_

Uninterested in the credits and the seemingly unending lists of makeup artists, lighting engineers etc, Kehlan reached over and stopped the recording. She'd watched the old movie in the name of research but much to her surprise, she'd enjoyed it. Made almost four hundred years ago, the movie had been presented as fiction and audiences of the time would never have realized it was based on true events. It was heavily dramatised, she knew, and probably bore little or no resemblance to what had actually happened. She gave a snort of disgust as she thought about the commandoes in the first in the series of films. "Amateurs!"

The comm. system activated with a shrill whistle. "Captain, a message has just come through from the Ch'Tang." The voice was that of Kehlan's first officer and marines' commander, Lt Colonel Philip Speares or Minty as he was more informally called, although rarely to his face. "The Yautja ship is coming into range and General Rustadh asks that you beam across at 16:00 hours."

Kehlan glanced at the time, 14:50. She had just over an hour left to finish her preparations. "Thank you Colonel. Tell Khetara I will be there."

"Will do, Captain" Speares said cheerfully. The burly Welshman had served with Kehlan for a long time, since she had first come aboard the Endeavour as the ship's first officer during the Dominion war. Outwardly easygoing and a bit of a joker at times, he was nevertheless a fine officer and there was no-one, apart from her husband, that she would rather have at her side in battle.

Breaking off the communication, Kehlan rifled through the pile of padds on her desk picking out the ones she wanted. Getting to her feet she left her ready room and headed out onto the bridge.

Colonel Speares, sitting in the captain's chair, started to get up when he saw his captain coming onto the bridge but she waved a hand, telling him to stay where he was. She was just passing through on her way to her quarters.

Someone must have already been using the turbolift because Kehlan had to wait a minute or two for it to arrive. Glancing around the bridge as she waited, she surveyed her crew. With the ship about to make first contact with a race as dangerous as the Yautja, all the senior officers were on duty. They were a mixed bunch. Next to Colonel Speares was Rhiana, her Romulan second officer. In his usual place at the back of the bridge was S'ian, her Vulcan head of Science. He was talking quietly with Lt Morgana Baker, a Terran of English/Ukrainian descent. Even her chief engineer was on the bridge, a large Klingon named Qeytok. All of them had served with Kehlan a very long time.

Kehlan smiled to herself as she looked at them. It was her opinion - and of course she was not even slightly biased, even if every captain she knew made the same claim about their own officers - that they were the best crew in the whole of Starfleet. No captain could ever ask for better.

The turbolift doors finally swished open and Kehlan stepped inside, the doors shutting again behind her. "Deck eight" she instructed the ship's computer and the lift began to move. The journey lasted only a few seconds before the doors opened again onto the deck where most of the senior officers' quarters were located. Moving down the corridor at a brisk pace, Kehlan quickly reached her quarters and went inside. Crossing the room, she went straight to the replicator, and helped herself to a large mug of raktajino – a strong coffee-like beverage that was very popular in the Klingon Empire. Taking a mouthful of the scalding hot drink, she sighed in appreciation and making herself comfortable on the large sofa, she continued to review the available data on the Yautja race, keeping an eye on the passage of time as she did so.

Their visits to Earth were well documented but they had hunted on Qo'noS as well, Kehlan knew. Half human, half Klingon, she was a child of two worlds and both her peoples had fallen victim to the predators, although she thought wryly, the Klingons would dispute her use of the word 'victim'. Ancient Klingon legends told how in the very hottest summers, hunters had come from the sky and great battles had been fought. Of course, it was always the Klingons who won those glorious battles. Come to think of it, it was the same with the Terran stories – the alien visitors were bigger, stronger, and faster. They had better technology, better weapons, better everything in fact. But inevitably, in every story they were eventually defeated. Kehlan smiled at the thought. Scriptwriters had a lot to answer for!

Kehlan had plenty of questions about this mission and hopefully soon she would begin to get some answers. Why had the Yautja decided to negotiate? Why now, after all these years? It had been over three hundred years since the last known visit of the predators to Earth and much longer for Qo'noS. The dates coincided, she noticed, with the development of warp drive. Did the Yautja prefer not to hunt space-going races? Whatever the reason, in all that time, nothing had been heard of the Yautja. They had just disappeared into legend and myth – until a few weeks ago.

Why had she been chosen to represent the Federation, Kehlan wondered? She was a ship's captain – a Fleet Captain admittedly but still only a captain, not an admiral or a diplomat. Actually, she suspected, her rank was exactly the reason Starfleet had picked her – as Fleet Captain her rank was high enough that it would not give offence to the Yautja, yet low enough that if anything went wrong she would not be missed too much. The Yautja had a fearsome reputation and she was expendable. Dismissing the thought as overly cynical, she got up and walked into her bedroom. It was time to get ready for the meeting.

Opening her wardrobe, she wasted several minutes trying to decide what to wear. She really hated the formal white dress uniform that Starfleet had decreed to be the appropriate garb for meeting visiting dignitaries – admittedly it was very smart but it was not at all practical and if she had to fight then it would hamper her freedom of movement. The Yautja were a warrior race and were not likely to be impressed by the white gabardine jacket and the black trousers with the fancy gold braid down each leg. It seemed to Kehlan that her battle armour was far more suitable. The decision made, she began to get changed and after a few moments she stood in front of the mirror to check her appearance. The heavy leather armour fitted her well, clinging to her curves and displaying a generous amount of cleavage. She'd always wondered about that – what was the point in armour that had a great big hole in the front? You might as well just wear a sign saying "Aim here!" Maybe that was the point, she thought whimsically, the enemy was supposed to be so dazzled by the female warrior's cleavage that they would be unable to fight her! Apart from that one flaw, the armour was practical and surprisingly comfortable.

Satisfied, she picked up her d'k'tahg and fastened it to her belt before leaving her quarters and heading to the transporter room. Greeting the duty ensign, a young Bajoran fresh from StarfleetAcademy, Kehlan stepped up onto the transporter pad. "Beam me over to the Ch'Tang" she instructed, "You have the coordinates?"

"Yes captain" the ensign said crisply, "Ready to transport."

Kehlan gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Energise!"


	4. Chapter 4

A few minutes after sixteen hundred hours had passed, Khetara glanced at the time display on the console built into the arm of her command chair. It was not like Kehlan to be late for a meeting as important as this one. Doubtless Endeavour's captain had simply been held up with some last minute problem, but even so, she should be here by now. It would have been courteous, Khetara thought in annoyance, for Kehlan to have let her superior know if there was a delay. Restlessly, she got up, pacing up and down the bridge as she waited. She glanced at the time again. 16:10. Her patience snapped and almost throwing herself down into her command chair, she opened a channel to the transporter room. "Where is captain Kehlan?"

Ch'Tang's transporter operator, a seasoned veteran named Kradok, checked his console. "I do not know, General" he reported. "She appears to be delayed. We are still waiting for the transport signal from Endeavour"

Khetara let out an annoyed growl. "She is late. I was expecting her arrival ten minutes ago"

Kradok started to speak but was interrupted by the inter-ship comm system crackling into life._ "Ch'Tang, please acknowledge transport receipt." _The voice was that of Endeavour's transporter operator, a young woman with a light accent that was not that of Earth_._

Kradok frowned, "One moment General." He turned his attention to the comm unit. "Unable to comply, Endeavour. The Fleet Captain has not yet beamed across"

There was a momentary silence at the other end. _"The signal was energised ten point two minutes ago. Are you saying…?"_ The voice trailed off into nothingness, overwhelmed by the implications.

Uncomfortably aware of the seriousness of the situation, and conscious of the open channel to his commanding officer, Kradok was already double checking the transporter log. As he'd expected, there was nothing. He'd performed the usual transporter checks himself at the beginning of his shift, had checked the calibrations. All had been as it should be. Since then, he had not left his post and could personally confirm that in the last few hours no-one had beamed on or off the ship, or even attempted to do so. "I'm saying, Endeavour" he growled, "that since your message fifteen minutes ago, that the Fleet Captain was preparing to transport across, we have received no further communication or transport signal from you."

A hastily muffled imprecation came from Endeavour's transporter operator, in a Federation dialect that Kradok did not recognise. Undoubtedly though, it matched his own thoughts. Somewhere, somehow, they had managed to lose Endeavour's captain in transport!

Taking a deep breath, Kradok turned his attention back to his superior. "General Khetara, I regret to report that Fleet Captain Kehlan appears to be missing"

Listening to the conversation via comm. link, Khetara had already come to that conclusion. Swearing, she headed for the turbolift. Turning back momentarily she addressed her first officer, "Kreltek, the bridge is yours. Inform me immediately of any further communications from the Yautja"

"Yes General!" Her executive officer saluted smartly. Not that Khetara noticed. She was already in the turbolift and on her way down to the transporter room. Her mind was racing as she waited for the lift to reach its destination. How in the name of Kahless, she asked herself, had they managed to lose the Fleet Captain? All sorts of possibilities went through her mind. A transporter malfunction? Operator error? Sabotage? She bared her teeth in disgust at that but dismissed it almost immediately. Neither her crew nor the crew of the Endeavour would turn traitor. She would consider that possibility only when every other option had exhausted itself.

Never patient at the best of times, Khetara was about to order the turbolift computer to increase speed when the lift came to a smooth halt and the doors slid open, disgorging her into the corridor just outside the transporter room. Swiftly entering the room, she found the chief engineer already there, conferring urgently with the duty transport operator.

Khetara approached them. "WHERE is Captain Kehlan?"

The chief engineer, a Terran woman named Jordan, who had originally come aboard as part of an officer exchange programme and ended up staying, looked up from the padd she was studying. "General, she is not on the Endeavour, or the Ch'Tang. We've been going through the logs Endeavour sent over. Their transporter signature clearly indicates she was sent here... except she never arrived."

Khetara listened carefully as her officers continued their explanation and then made up her mind "I am going over to the Endeavour. Jordan, you'll come with me, I will require your assistance"

She hit her com badge. "Have my shuttle readied. The transporters are to remain offline until further notice."

Still giving orders, she left the transporter room and hurried towards the landing bay, moving at a fast pace that was almost, but not quite, a run. Efficient as always, her pilot and her security chief were waiting for her and settling herself in the co-pilot's seat, she gave the order to take off. It was a very short journey from Ch'Tang to Endeavour and as the great shuttle doors slid open, allowing the tiny shuttle to slip out into the vast blackness of space, the Nebula class starship was clearly visible half a _qellcam_ off Ch'Tang's port side. The Predator ship was out there somewhere as well, Khetara knew, although it remained cloaked, undetectable to their ship's sensors. Even so, as she looked out the shuttlecraft window, Khetara fancied she could see a faint spatial distortion, a slight shimmer of stars that did not look quite right. She was not however, given to flights of fancy, and shaking her head, she dismissed the thought as irrelevant. Half a _qellcam_ was a very short distance and the shuttle was already pulling into Endeavour's main shuttle bay.

The moment the General's feet touched the floor of the shuttle bay, the shrill pipe of a ship welcoming a flag officer aboard sounded and in no mood for the unnecessary fripperies the Federation were so fond of, she held up a hand to silence it.

"You know why I am here" she told the waiting officers. "Your captain has gone missing in transport. I intend to get to the bottom of this and have brought my own engineer and security chief to assist with the investigation. You may rest assured, we WILL find Captain Kehlan." Her tone made it very clear that any other outcome was unacceptable.

Waiting in the transporter room, the duty officer was in a state of near panic. A new graduate, she had considered herself incredibly lucky to get a starship assignment as her first posting – and not just any starship, but the flagship of the Rapid Response Fleet. Her friends had been envious of her. It was a prestigious position and there had been a lot of competition for it. Reality of course, had not lived up to the hype. Transporter duty was easy, routine, boring even. You turned up for your shift, you did the calibration checks and if someone wanted to transport, you entered the coordinates, pressed a few buttons and they were on their way. Simple, really! What you WEREN'T supposed to do was lose your captain in transit! More than once, she had wished for a little excitement, something out of the ordinary to spice things up a little. Well, she'd got what she'd wished for and she didn't like it at all.

The young Bajoran bit her lip nervously as the Klingon General stalked into the transporter room, followed by Endeavour's chief engineer, a big, intimidating Klingon named Qeytok and a slender, dark haired Terran woman that she did not recognise, but who she guessed from the insignia, must be Ch'Tang's chief engineer.

Khetara studied the young woman standing in front of her, noting her youth and obvious nervousness. "What is your name, Ensign?"

The ensign came to attention. "Chalan Bennya, sir"

Khetara bit back an annoyed growl. One thing she had in common with the missing captain was a dislike of being called 'Sir'. The alternative 'ma'am' was in her book, just as bad, if not worse. She much preferred to be addressed by her rank. "Well, Ensign Benn…" She stopped, belatedly remembering that Bajorans put their family name first and given name second. "Ensign Chalan" she corrected herself, "Tell me what happened"

Realising that she had managed to annoy the Klingon General and not sure why, the young Bajoran swallowed uncomfortably and looked down at her feet before replying. "General, I…" She seemed to find her courage then, looking up resolutely and meeting Khetara's gaze. "Fleet Captain Kehlan came in and asked to be beamed to Ch'Tang. I checked the calibration, entered the coordinates Ch'Tang sent me and then energised the beam." Her voice trembled a little as she continued, "Everything was normal. The captain dematerialised and I waited for Ch'Tang to acknowledge. When they didn't, I sent a query and… and… they said she never got there"

Khetara nodded thoughtfully. The ensign's account matched that of her own transporter operator. Thinking for a moment, she gestured to the two senior engineers. "If the computer records show that everything is normal, they are either falsified or in error. Kehlan is not here, nor is she on board my ship. I want answers! Tear the system apart if you have to. Do whatever it takes to find out what happened. In the meantime, until we she is found, there will be no unauthorised traffic into the transporter rooms or other vital areas of either Endeavour, or Ch'Tang"


	5. Chapter 5

Life returned to normal on board the Enterprise. Nobody, except the people involved knew what had happened and Diana and S'ian were left in peace to build a new relationship. Diana confided in me that she had no idea why the Vulcan had made this decision - he gave no indication of loving her. Physically they had a good relationship, but emotionally? She was totally confused. There was nothing I could do to help her, of course, only listen. Neither of us realised however, just how much more complicated things would become.

Having completed its mission, the Enterprise was sent on routine patrol along the border of the Romulan Neutral Zone. About a week into the patrol, a distress call was picked up. The message, distorted by hissing and crackling, was in Romulan. Data fed the message into the Translator, skilfully filtering out the distortions, until its contents could be clearly heard and understood.

"Mayday… Mayday… To any vessel within range. This is the Romulan Warbird Tarndorr in distress. Life support is failing. Please respond….. Mayday…" The message began to repeat itself.

Picard frowned. "Number One, are there any other vessels in range of that message?"

Riker glanced at his console. "No sir. At least, not that are showing on sensors anyway. We are the only ship close enough to assist."

The captain nodded, "Helm, lay in a course for the damaged vessel, maximum speed."

Worf was incredulous. "Captain, do you really intend to help _Romulans_? He spat the word as though it were a curse.

"May I remind you Worf, that a Mayday cannot be ignored?" The Captain responded, "Even if it's Romulan. And if we can take the vessel intact, so much the better."

"Aye, sir" Worf said. He hesitated a moment, then continued, "Sir, I recommend that we proceed with caution. This reminds me very much of the Kobayashi Maru."

Krang had remained silent through the debate, but he stirred a little at this point, sending an enquiring look to his fellow Klingon. The reference to the Kobayashi Maru, was of course, understood by all the Starfleet officers present, it needed no explaining – all of them had taken the test, and failed it. Krang however, had not attended StarfleetAcademy and had never heard of the infamous test. "It means a trap" Worf muttered, in a quick aside, "I'll explain later." Krang, nodded, understanding. This was not the time for long detailed explanations.

Captain Picard said grimly, "I am well aware of the possibility of cloaked vessels out there. Go to Yellow Alert." Turning to the helmsman, he asked, "Is that course laid in yet?

"Aye, sir"

"Engage!"

As the Enterprise approached the stricken Warbird, it became obvious that the vessel had been involved in heavy fighting. Data, his fingers deftly manipulating the controls, initiated scans for damage and for life-signs. After a moment, he looked up. "Captain, there are only three life-signs on board. The battle scars are typical of those caused by Klingon disruptor fire."

Krang and Worf glanced at one another. _"Qu'vatlh!"_ Krang muttered, intending only Worf to hear him.

Worf growled in response and then said, "Captain, there are no Klingon vessels in this vicinity. There must be another explanation."

Picard nodded, "We'll find out soon enough. Now, I want you and Krang, Riker, Data, Dr Crusher and La Forge to beam over there." He smiled slightly, knowing his security officer well. "Do you think you can be trusted to bring the Romulans back alive?"

"Of course, sir" Worf said indignantly, "I will not fail."

The three surviving Romulans were found unconscious and badly injured on the bridge of the Tarndorr and Beverly had them beamed directly to sickbay, where she began treatment immediately.

The two Klingons hacked into the ship's intelligence/security network and began downloading what information was still available through the damaged systems. The records were heavily protected, but damaged as the system was, it took the two experienced security officers only moments to break through the layers of passwords protecting the files.

Geordi and Data examined the ship's engineering systems. As they tinkered with the controls, an automated Romulan voice cane over the stricken ship's intercom. "_Mak kor-sin halndal… Mak-kor_…"

Geordi glanced at Data, asking "Does that mean what I think it does?"

Data nodded, "Yes, Geordi. Warp core breach imminent. I think we should leave."

"We've got all the information we need" Riker said grimly as he rejoined the group. "Now let's get out of here."

Activating his combadge, he called for beam-up and moments later they all stood safely on the Enterprise's transporter platform. Touching his combadge again, Riker said, "Riker to Captain Picard."

Picard was at that moment in the sickbay, interrogating one of the Romulans who had just regained consciousness. He identified himself, saying, "I am Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise."

The Romulan answered, his voice still weak "My name is Jaaron. I am Captain of the Romulan Warbird Tarndorr." He was silent for a moment, then, "Captain, my crew - are they all right?"

"We found only two other survivors."

Jaaron looked away, distressed. "They were a good crew."

Picard nodded, momentarily in sympathy with the Romulan. "Maybe later you can tell us what happened to your ship."

It was at that moment that his combadge bleeped. As he acknowledged, Riker's voice said, "Captain, the away team is aboard and Tarndorr's warp core is about to explode."

"Get us back to Federation space" Picard snapped, "Maximum warp."


	6. Chapter 6

_"Yautja shuttle you are cleared for final approach"_

The alarm sounded and with the force-field engaged, the great docking bay doors began to slowly open. It was a moment that always made Colonel Speares nervous. The marine eyed the emitters warily. A veteran of too many space battles, he had experienced first hand the results of explosive decompression. He'd been lucky to walk away from that one. It had been years ago, but he had never forgotten and the images would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Shuttle-bay One was the largest of Endeavour's flight decks, located in the forward section of the primary hull, its position giving the waiting officers a spectacular view of the Yautja vessel and the approaching shuttle. The mother-ship was large and sleek with a shape that reminded Speares of a cross between a frog and a cobra. It was not, he reflected, all that different to a Federation ship in its layout. There were only so many ways after all, that warp nacelles could be arranged.

Instinctively tugging down the jacket of the white dress uniform he had donned in honour of the occasion, Speares wondered momentarily how he got himself into this. He'd been in the transporter room, he remembered, discussing the investigation with the Klingon General and the two engineers. Khetara had been on the verge of losing her temper with their continued insistence that there was nothing wrong with the system.

The anticipated roar of Klingon fury had been pre-empted by the shrill of the comm. system and the voice of a callow Ensign. "_General."_ he reported, "_the Yautja shuttle is requesting docking coordinates" _

Khetara glanced at Colonel Speares. "I had planned to have the meeting on the Ch'Tang" she told him, "Obviously that is no longer feasible."

The big marine nodded, understanding, "I'd recommend docking bay one. Its location allows better access to the diplomatic areas. With your permission, General, I'll have our main conference room made ready and order the area cleared of all non essential personnel"

The Klingon growled in reply "Permission granted of course."

Heading for the doors, Khetara had turned back for a moment, "Actually, there is one last thing, colonel. I'll need you present during the meetings, you're going to have to take Captain Kehlan's place"

With his attention focused on finding his captain, it had not occurred to him that her disappearance had put him in command of both the ship and the mission. As Kehlan's second in command, he had been briefed, but he was a marine, not a diplomat. He was not suited to negotiating a First Contact treaty. "I… yes General." There was no other answer he could give. He would do his duty to the best of his ability and hope he did not screw up too badly. With an inward sigh, he had hit his combadge and begun issuing orders to his crew.

Turning his attention back to the here and now, he glanced at Khetara, wryly amused to see her tugging at the jacket of her formal armour as she mentally prepared herself for what was to come.

The approaching shuttle was almost dart-like in its appearance, with deep lines etched into the hull that could only be decorative, covering its surface too completely to be language. Bulky engines at the rear of the craft marred its smooth, sleek lines yet at the same time emphasised its resemblance to an arrowhead. The force-field flickered as the shuttle passed through and light as a feather touched down in the centre of the landing bay.

A trio of predators emerged from the shuttle. Although their faces were concealed behind full masks, Khetara felt certain that the one in the centre was the leader. She sensed he was important in some way or at least significantly older than his companions. Long blue-grey appendages decorated with engraved rings of precious metals fell almost to his waist. He wore little in the way of clothing – a form of netting that covered his body, armoured coverings protecting his lower legs, arms, breast and groin area and a weapons belt encircling his waist. A necklace of bones, trophies from long past hunts, hung from his neck. A cloak was pinned to his shoulders, crimson as Terran arterial blood and fastened by a clasp that seemed to be formed from a worked skull whose original species Khetara couldn't identify. The hem of the heavy fabric almost touched the deck, its folds swaying as the Elder moved.

The two Hunters standing one on either side of him were more heavily armoured, clothed in what was clearly the garb of warriors, albeit apparently ceremonial. They were guards of some sort Khetara guessed, yet guards with status. Their highly decorated armour and the way they carried themselves indicated that they held significant rank…or significant arrogance/confidence… No, that thought was unfair and unbecoming of her on a First Contact Mission. In contrast with the Elder, their tentacle-like hair was shorter and a more vibrant shade of black although equally decorated with metallic rings. The gauntlets on their wrists were bulky, with some sort of computer panel set into them and Khetara wondered what weapons they concealed.

Khetara approached them, stopping at a respectful distance and offering them the Klingon salute. She was by no means short but she had to look up to meet the Elder's gaze, although his eyes were hidden behind the ornate mask that covered his facial features. She had been told they were big but even so, the reality was impressive. Lean and muscular, the three aliens towered above her.

Her language formal, she spoke to the Predators. "Be welcome on board. I first wish to address the issue of how you wish to be called. Since I do not know your customs..."

"You may address me as Elder." The voice had an odd mechanical inflection, coming from a translator held in the old Predator's clawed hand. "You could not pronounce my name"

Khetara inclined her head respectfully, "Honoured Elder" He seemed pleased with that, she noticed, although with his face hidden behind the mask, it was hard to be sure. Nevertheless, a slight change in his posture seemed to indicate that she had used the correct form of address. "I am General Khetara _epetai_ Rustadh" she continued, "Representing the Klingon Empire." She gestured towards Endeavour's first officer, and took a deep breath, knowing that this was likely to be where things started to go horribly wrong. "And this is Colonel Philip Speares representing the United Federation of Planets."

"Spear?" The Elder considered that. It was a good name, a strong one and the human looked as though he might even be worthy of it. Big for his species and strong looking, he was obviously a warrior, something in his stance and in his eyes, speaking of battles fought and won. It was not however the name he had been given. "Where is Kay-lan?"

"That…" the words slipped out before Khetara could stop herself, "…is what we would all like to know!"

A low growl rumbled through the Elder's body. "Explain"

Khetara swore under her breath, she had intended to break the news a little more diplomatically. "There appears to have been a transporter accident" she said. Choosing her words carefully, she explained the situation to the Predator Elder.

The tall predator was silent for a long moment as he considered her words. "You will find her." It was a demand rather than a question. "I will not negotiate with a replacement"


	7. Chapter 7

Kehlan listened carefully to the sounds of the jungle, all too aware that both her life and the life of the young predator could depend on their ability to correctly interpret what they heard and act accordingly to protect themselves. Whatever was approaching them was still a fair distance away, somewhere to the east of their current position. She heard a screeching sound, full of pain and fear as some native animal encountered the creature and was killed by it, killed slowly from the sound of it. She gave a convulsive shudder, not at all sure that she wanted to meet this new enemy.

It was almost an anti-climax when an alien creature, identical to the one Kehlan had just watched the young hunter kill, came crashing through the undergrowth and into the clearing. This was not whatever she had heard out there in the jungle, Kehlan knew. Something else was still out there, something worse than this and although for now, it seemed to have veered off towards the south east, it was still closer than it had been and it was likely they would have to face it eventually. This creature however, fearsome as it was, could be defeated!

The alien creature came to a halt as it saw the predator in front of it but its hesitation was only momentary. Screaming a challenge, it launched itself at the young hunter that was its hereditary enemy.

Not stopping to think, Kehlan picked up a sword-like weapon from the ground, where one of the dead Yautja had dropped it, and moved to attack the creature. The sword was longer and heavier than the weapons she was accustomed to but it was surprisingly well balanced and was more than adequate for her needs. She could and would wield this weapon. A battle trained warrior, she did not intend to remain unarmed on the sidelines and let the Yautja fight for her; that was not the Klingon way.

With a yowl her enemy turned to face her. Its barbed tail was lashing from side to side as it looked for an opportunity to strike. But it had never seen a Klingon before and it hesitated, unsure which target was the greater threat – the Yautja on one side or the unknown and unfamiliar newcomer on the other. Turning from one to the other and back again, the creature finally made up its mind. The Yautja was known to it, a danger that it understood. The other however… small and fragile looking, this one was the lesser threat and on that could be dealt with later. Decision made, the creature turned back towards the young Yautja, spittle dripping from its mouth as it snarled.

The young predator moved in to attack the now distracted creature and Kehlan stood motionless for a moment, admiring him as he fought. The Yautja might be young, little more than a teenager, but he was obviously well trained in the fighting skills and moved with all the grace and assurance of a warrior. He had several injuries and luminous green blood stained his armour in several places although it didn't seem to be slowing him down.

Scorpion-like, the creature raised its tail high and darted forwards in an effort to impale the hunter on its point. But however dangerous it thought a Yautja was, it was a big mistake to ignore a Klingon warrior, a mistake that for this creature, would prove mortal.

Kehlan reacted quickly, and identifying the tail as the most immediate threat to the young Yautja, she brought her weapon upwards as she slashed at it. The blade in her hand was incredibly sharp and sliced straight through the creature's skin and into the bone. The sharp tip of the tail fell to the ground still twitching as whitish blood spurted from the wounded creature, hissing as it fell onto the ground, dissolving the earth to leave a smoking hole. The creature yowled in pain and instinctively Kehlan moved backwards to avoid the blood pouring from the amputated stump. The creature's blood was dangerous. She had already discovered that it consisted of concentrated acid and she did not want to come into contact with it. The weapon she held seemed unaffected and Kehlan wondered what it was made of that it was resistant to the acid. She suspected that her _d'k'tahg_ would not fare so well.

The Yautja stepped back. First blood in this fight belonged to the Ooman female and in rejoining the fight, she had claimed her right to the trophy – if she could take it! The alien creature was her prey now, not his and he would not interfere in her battle – although if she lost, he would not allow the_ Kainde amedha_ to escape alive. For now he waited, watching curiously to see if she was worthy of his friendship and his respect. He'd already noticed how small she was; the top of her head barely reached his chest. The hard meat towered above her but despite the size differential she was holding her own. It was obvious to the Yautja that the Ooman was a trained warrior; she moved with an economy of motion, a controlled grace that was only obtained by years of fighting and that until now he had seen only in the older, highly experienced hunters who spent their time training the young and passing on their skills to the next generation.

For her part, Kehlan assessed her enemy, moving carefully as she prepared to attack. The creature was a lot bigger than she was and even injured, she knew it was a dangerous adversary. A clawed hand swiped at her and even as she ducked, one razor sharp claw ripped through the fur sleeve of her battle armour, cutting into the skin beneath. Kehlan swore at the stinging sensation but realised immediately that the wound was superficial, noting more than a minor annoyance and would not cause her any real trouble.

Moving with blinding speed the creature attacked again. Pleased with the minor success of its tactic, it repeated the manoeuvre but this time Kehlan was ready for it and as it lashed out again with its claws she dropped to one knee coming in low under its guard and slashing at its exposed belly. The blade sliced through the thick black chitin, deep into the beast's guts, eliciting a howl of both agony and fury. It staggered forward, its slavering jaws reaching for Kehlan but she was already diving out of its way, twisting the sword viciously as she pulled it free. She rolled and came up just behind and slightly to one side of its powerful hind legs. Holding the sword with both hands, she lashed out, cutting through the back of its legs, and felt the blade sink into the muscles and tendons, effectively hamstringing the monster.

The ground shook as with an unearthly shriek, the mortally injured creature came crashing down. Careful to avoid the snapping jaws and the acidic blood that was pouring from its many wounds, Kehlan moved in for the kill, her final blow cutting open its throat, almost severing its head and bringing its struggles to an end.


	8. Chapter 8

As his father moved forward to walk along side the Klingon female, Kihr'yende stepped into place behind him, Da'rian at his side. Both predators were watchful and wary in this unfamiliar environment and ready to protect their Elder from even the slightest threat. They had been on board the Ooman ship only a few minutes and already things were not going according to plan.

He was a ship's captain though and despite his distrust, he could not completely repress his curiosity. This vessel was nothing like his _Yeyinde_ and he was looking forward to seeing more of it. If he was lucky, he would also get a chance to visit the nearby Klingon vessel as well. Its exterior configuration was very different to the Federation ship, its lines sleek and menacing and it seemed to him that the two had little in common. What, he wondered, had brought the two races together as allies?

The doors that led from the shuttle bay into the rest of the ship seemed to be set at a ridiculously low height and all three predators were forced to duck in order to pass through them. The necessity was annoying to Kihr'yende, serving only to remind him how pathetically tiny these creatures were. He bit back a growl. They might have advanced technology but they were prey and nothing more.

The thought was unproductive and he shoved it aside, concentrating on the here and now. He understood the reasons for the treaty, knew why his father and the other clan elders had taken this unprecedented decision.

The corridors of the ship seemed plain and featureless to the tall predator. He was accustomed to the highly ornate carvings that covered the interior of his ship. Intending to check for danger, he touched a control on his wrist panel, cycling through the various vision modes his mask offered. Of the various options available, he had always found the heat sensitive mode to be the best supplement to his natural vision, allowing him to detect the body heat of a potential enemy long before that enemy was in visual range. On this occasion though he found it was not a good choice. The view was extremely distorted, full of interference and painful to his eyes. It was caused, he guessed, by the backlighting to the display panels and the poorly shielded power conduits that appeared to run the length of the corridors. Wincing he switched back to a more normal vision mode.

One of the information panels on the wall caught the Elder's attention and he stopped for a moment to study it. Raising a clawed finger he touched the display. "Explain this"

Kihr'yende watched carefully as the Ooman whom he had been told was the commander of this vessel, stepped closer to the wall panel and gesturing towards the diagrams, began to answer the Elder's question. The schematics of the ship intrigued him and he listened with great interest to the explanation.

Two security guards hurried along the empty corridor, checking each side junction as they went. Their orders were to ensure that the passages between the shuttle-bay and the conference rooms were clear. The Klingon General did not want any trouble with the first contact negotiations. All non essential personnel were to be kept out of the way for their own safety.

O'Henry shivered. He couldn't dispute that order. He'd seen the… the… what was it they were called? Yautja? Yes, that was it. They were huge, they looked mean and dangerous and he wondered uncomfortably what lay hidden beneath the masks. He wasn't xenophobic, he was a Starfleet officer after all and meeting new races was part of the job, part of what he'd signed up for. But something about this one scared him.

"Cold?"

He glanced at his colleague. He'd served with Rossi for several years, since the other man had come on board Endeavour as a raw recruit. He knew him well and had even been best man at his wedding a few months back to a pretty ensign on the Starbase. "No, just… thinking about them"

"Them?" Rossi looked confused for a moment, then his expression cleared as he realised what his friend was talking about. "Oh… you mean those new aliens?"

"Yeah, the Yautja" O'Henry said, "I don't like the look of them. Mark my words Rossi, those… those things… are dangerous. There's going to be trouble"

Rossi laughed, "You worry too much. Come on, we've got a job to do. Lets get a move on and finish checking these corridors. We're running late as it is"

The Irishman nodded "Yeah, don't need any problems" he grumbled. "It's bad enough with the captain in control… now she's gone and we've got that Klingon General in charge." In actual fact O'Henry did not have any issues with his captain. She might be bad tempered and a strict disciplinarian but she was also fair and that was fine with him. Like most of the crew he was worried and stressed about her sudden disappearance. It had put them all on edge, especially with it happening at such a critical time.

"She's not as bad as some of them" Rossi said, "Least she's spent time in a Federation fleet, she knows how we do things in Starfleet." Nevertheless, he picked up his pace. O'Henry was right, they didn't need trouble.

Still talking as they reached the junction at the end of the corridor, they turned towards the passageway that would take them back towards the conference rooms. Neither man registered the presence of the ambassadorial group and its escort until it was too late. Looking back to answer Rossi, O'Henry came round the corner slightly ahead of his friend and ran straight into one of the huge aliens he had seen in the shuttle-bay.


	9. Chapter 9

The Yautja watched as the Ooman female stood over the body of the hard meat she had just killed. She'd fought well and the kill had been a good, clean one. She had earned her trophy, and with it, his respect. He had realised earlier though, when he'd cleaned and prepared his own trophy, that she had no idea what he was doing. Very well, he decided, this once he would help her with the job.

Her heart-rate slowly calming as the adrenaline faded, Kehlan looked up at the big predator. He'd made no move to help her during the fight. She wondered suddenly if she had broken some taboo in attacking a creature that he was already fighting – but she had meant only to assist him. Why had he abdicated the fight and left her to face the creature alone? Was he angry with her for interfering? Unflinching, she met his gaze. No, he wasn't angry, she realised. In fact, was that approval she saw in those deep-set amber eyes?

He moved towards her and squatting by the remains of the alien creature, he pulled out his knife and got to work. For the second time, Kehlan found herself watching as the Yautja began to remove the skull, cleaning it and putting it in a net bag. She was caught by surprise when, making a clicking sound with his mandibles, he reached out, offering her the bag. When she made no move to take it, he growled impatiently and pushed it into her hands. Her fingers closed reflexively around the net bag. It was heavy and she wondered what in the name of Kahless she was supposed to do with it now. But it seemed to be of some importance to him so she accepted it without argument.

Aware of the acidic blood on her weapon, Kehlan broke eye contact with the Yautja and bent to wipe the blade clean on the foliage of the nearest bush. Its large, pinnate leaves were a deep vibrant green in colour reminding Kehlan of the jungles on Terra. Plants were Kehlan's first love; she had studied botany long before she had become a warrior and she found it interesting to see how life had developed in such similar ways on planets that were light years apart. There'd been many theories and treatises on the subject, she knew, they had formed part of her studies. Pushing the thought away and dismissing it as irrelevant for the moment, she turned her attention back to the blade in her hand. Now that the battle was over, she had time to examine the sword properly. The workmanship was exquisite and again she wondered what it was made of that it was resistant to the acid blood of the creatures it had obviously been designed to kill. Concentrating on her task, and at the same time tracking the progress of the other creature that was somewhere out there, she did not realise that the predator had spoken to her.

Annoyed with the lack of response from the Ooman female, the young hunter closed the gap between them and bending, he placed a large, clawed hand on her shoulder, shaking it slightly to get her attention. When she looked up, he repeated himself before looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

Satisfied that the sword was as clean as she could get it without proper facilities, Kehlan got to her feet. She ran a finger across the blade, testing its sharpness and satisfied that it was suitable for use, she slid the sword into her belt. She stared up at the big predator, trying to figure out what he wanted to tell her.

Mandibles flaring, he gave a growl of frustration that exposed two rows of razor sharp inner teeth before trying again, this time using gestures rather than words. Pointing to himself, he said, slowly and clearly, "Yautja" and then pointing at Kehlan, "Ooman"

Yautja. She recognized the word as the name of his species, but had never heard it pronounced correctly before. But what did 'Ooman' mean? Repeating the word mentally, something clicked in her mind and she could have kicked herself. He was saying that she was human!

Shaking her head, and hoping illogically that the gesture was universal, she touched the ridges on her forehead. "Klingon."

He let out a trilling sound and repeated it. "Kling-on."

Kehlan smiled, pleased with their admittedly limited success at communication. Pointing to herself again, she said for a second time, "Klingon." Then she said her name, slowly and clearly. "Kehlan."

He repeated it carefully. "Kay-lan." Then, he gestured back at himself and said something that was completely incomprehensible to Kehlan. It had to be his name but she didn't have the faintest idea how to pronounce it. It was becoming evident to Kehlan that the Yautja used their mandibles for communication and without them she was at a severe disadvantage. The words of his language were simply unpronounceable to her. She shrugged and shook her head, telling him wordlessly that she did not understand him.

With a growl, he repeated himself and this time she caught part of it. It sounded something like "Jau'esh'enye" but interspersed with a lot of clicking and growling sounds.

After several fruitless attempts at pronouncing his name, Kehlan was starting to get annoyed and to make it worse, she got the distinct impression that her companion was laughing at her. "_Qu'vatlh_" she muttered under her breath, "This is ridiculous"

She was going to have to give him a nickname she decided, but what? Nothing Klingon seemed appropriate for him. As for Terran names… well, there were several options there. But somehow, he just did not look like a Joe or a Josh. Thinking for a minute she smiled, remembering one of her favourite childhood stories, about a talking dinosaur. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his chest and said. "George!"

The newly renamed predator let out the trilling sound that Kehlan was learning to associate with laughter. "Geo'rrrge?"

"George" Kehlan repeated firmly.


	10. Chapter 10

His attention focussed on the Ooman commander who was explaining the workings of the ship's information system, the predator Elder was caught by surprise as the hapless security guard cannoned into him. Momentarily off balance, he staggered sideways, only his superb reflexes preventing him from colliding with the Klingon female standing immediately to his right. He recovered his balance and instinctively flexing his wrists to release the blades concealed in his ornate gauntlets, turned to face the potential threat.

If the Elder's reactions were fast, those of his son were even quicker. With a furious snarl, Kihr'yende stepped forward, his wrist blades emerging from his gauntlets with a faint susurration of metal on metal as he inserted himself between his Elder and the intruder.

Horrified, and all too aware that his carelessness just might have caused a major diplomatic incident, the security officer jumped backwards, starting to apologise to the General and her guests.

Even as the Elder, realising that it was a simple accident, nothing more than a moment of clumsiness caused by the newcomer's inattention to where he was going, relaxed and sheathed his weapons, the security guard saw the two sets of blades and reacted instinctively to the perceived threat to his safety. Hand going to the phaser tucked into his belt, his fingers closed around the handle and started to pull it free. It was the worst possible thing he could have done.

The predator named Da'rian had also seen the threat and moved to the defence of his Elder, activating his own weapons in readiness to fight. But situated as he was, to Kihr'yende's right, his way was blocked and it was the Elder's son who got there first.

The predator captain did not hesitate, nor did he stop to consider. It was unthinkable to him that prey should raise a weapon to the Elder in anger and be allowed to live. Pivoting, he raised one arm, almost as though to salute and then lashed out in a back handed blow that sliced his victim open from waist to shoulder. His mouth opening and closing soundlessly, the guard stumbled backwards before falling to his knees with his hands clutching at his entrails. Kihr'yende stepped closer and followed up with a smooth thrust to the chest, impaling the security guard on his blade in one swift well practiced combative move.

The guard's body jerked convulsively on the end of the blade, a thin line of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The only sound he made was a faint gurgle, a mix of pain and surprise that was replaced by an ominous silence as life faded and his eyes dulled, leaving him hanging limply from the predator's wrist blade.

With a sharp motion of the wrists, Kihr'yende retracted his blades, allowing the body to slide to the deck and pulled a small serrated knife from his belt. It had been many years since the Yautja had hunted Oomans. The skull of the dead man would be a good addition to his trophy room and would very likely earn him both the respect of his peers and enhanced mating rights on his return to the home-world.

The Elder however, realised what his son was about to do and intervened with a sharp command. On one hand, he was pleased to see his son's finely honed skills but he was also keenly aware of trouble this incident would cause. While the taking of a trophy was fully in accordance with the traditions and rituals of his people, it would endanger the treaty he hoped to make and could therefore not be allowed.

Kihr'yende stepped back with a sullen growl and re-sheathed his knife. The Ooman had died too easily, he decided. His father was right to interfere - there had been no challenge in the kill and the trophy was not worth the taking. Besides, he was here for a reason, had responsibilities that went far beyond the hunt and he would not risk the failure of the mission his father had undertaken.

Khetara stared in shocked disbelief at the fallen security officer. The whole incident had happened so fast, neither she nor any of the other members of her party had had the slightest chance to react, let alone prevent the killing. She was a Klingon General, a warrior, and she had fought many battles, some in space but many more hand to hand. Death was nothing new to her. What stunned her was the sheer speed with which the huge predator had moved, the ruthless efficiency of the kill and the silence with which it had happened. The dead man had had no opportunity even to scream let alone defend himself. There was no way this could be described as a fair fight, it had been nothing more than a slaughter. Kneeling, she turned the guard's body so he lay on his back and prying his eyes open, she threw back her head and howled. He was not a Klingon but he had died facing his enemy and with a weapon in his hand. The traditional call to Sto-vo-kor for a fallen warrior was appropriate.

Tribute paid, Khetara got slowly to her feet, clenching her fists in an effort to control her temper and stop herself from reaching for her knife. Sensing her internal struggle, the equally shocked Speares reached out and placed a hand on her arm. She turned her attention to him momentarily and he shook his head emphatically. "Don't!" he said, his voice quiet but full of urgency, "Don't even think about it!" In truth, he was as angry as she was. But his priority now was to calm the situation before anyone else got killed. The Yautja were well named Predators, killing was second nature to them, the mainstay of their culture. To react the way he wanted to would at best cause a bloodbath and at worst an interstellar war. It was also an unfortunate fact that as ambassadors, the Yautja delegation held diplomatic immunity. Which did not mean, he thought angrily, that they could just walk around slaughtering his crew.

_"Qu'vatlh!"_ The Klingon woman swore before taking a deep breath and calming herself. Allowing the crewman's death to pass unavenged went against the grain, went in fact against everything she had ever been taught. It was only with the greatest of restraint that she was able to prevent herself from ignoring Speares and escalating the conflict by reaching for her own weapon. She was here to forge a treaty, not start a war. She could not however, prevent her anger from showing as she addressed the Elder "What in the name of _Gre'thor_…"

The Predator Elder stared impassively at the Klingon General. "He drew a weapon." In his eyes, there was no further explanation that needed to be given. To draw a weapon on a Yautja Hunter was to declare oneself prey and therefore fair game.

Khetara glared back at the Elder. "Weapon or not" she warned him, "If you want these negotiations to go ahead, there will be no further… misunderstandings… of this type! Am I understood?"

A low growl rumbled through the Predator Elder's body as he moved closer to her, deliberately crowding her in what she could only assume was a deliberate attempt to intimidate. He lowered his head to stare at her as his growl intensified.

Khetara glared back at the Elder. "Weapon or not" she warned him, "If you want these negotiations to go ahead, there will be no further… misunderstandings… of this type! This can NOT happen again, our security personnel are armed for a reason. They have a job to do and that job is to protect this ship. I will NOT have them slaughtered for doing their jobs! Am I understood?"

Beneath the Elder's mask, his mandibles flared in momentary disgust and the resonance of his growl increased further before he turned to his escort and said something in his own language. Both Kihr'yende and Da'rian bowed their heads in acknowledgement of the order. The language was incomprehensible to Khetara, the universal translator unable to make any sense of what sounded to her ears, more like growls and clicks than actual words, but she guessed their meaning. The Elder was in effect, telling them to behave… or at least, so she hoped.

Turning his attention back to Khetara, the old predator spoke, and with a shock, Khetara realised he was no longer using the translation device on his wrist, but actually speaking Federation Standard, albeit with a very heavy, guttural accent.

"You arrre underrrstood"


	11. Chapter 11

Kehlan awoke, her whole body stiff and sore. Rolling slightly to one side, she was startled by the sudden sensation of empty space beneath her and even as her companion reached out a large clawed hand to pull her back to safety, she remembered too late, exactly where she was.

It had been very obvious the previous day that they could not stay where they were. More of those terrifying alien creatures had turned up in the clearing and for a while the fighting had become very intense. There was no time now for one to stand and admire the fighting technique of the other, the numbers of attackers swarming in to the clearing had resulted in Klingon and Predator fighting back to back for their very survival. Not that she'd got too close to George, his combat technique did not allow for that. Kehlan valued her own life too much to get in the way of the massive blades on his wrist gauntlets, nevertheless they had been close enough to defend each other, and each had saved the other's life on more that one occasion during that battle.

With no vocabulary in common, communication was not easy and after what was by necessity, a very short discussion the two allies had decided to move out. They'd taken a south westerly direction. Kehlan had wanted to head north. There were mountains in that direction and they didn't look too far away – and where there were mountains there would probably be caves, and shelter. It was also possible she thought, that if she could get high enough, she could get above whatever interference was preventing her from contacting her ship and just maybe, she would be able to call for help.

But George had thought differently. In fact, he had come very close to losing his temper at her insistence. The big predator understood what she did not – the life cycle of the alien xenomorphs. To head towards the mountains on a planet infested by the _Kainde Amedha_, was suicidal, and he'd kill his new friend himself before he'd allow her to fall victim to the horrors of impregnation and the agonising death that would inevitably follow.

He'd got his way in the end, pointing towards the carcasses littering the ground, and then gesturing towards the mountains. Then, he had simply grabbed hold of Kehlan's hand and started to march off in his chosen direction. It took Kehlan only a moment to break free of his grip but conceding that the big predator knew this planet better than she did, she followed him without further argument.

They'd been walking for several hours and had made good progress towards whatever goal the young warrior had in mind, although Kehlan had a good idea that if he had been alone, George would have been able to move much faster. She was slowing him down, unable to move through the jungle environment with the same agility that he could. So far though, he remained a tolerant, if hard taskmaster, pushing her relentlessly onwards until the journey became nothing more than a miserable blur of one foot in front of the other, pushing through the foliage as they followed no particular track that Kehlan could determine. She'd thought herself a good hunter but she realised almost immediately that she was no more than a child in her abilities when compared to the Yautja, and probably a rather stupid child at that.

Their journey was interrupted by a loud growling sound from Kehlan's stomach. George turned, snarling at the sound, then broke into that trilling laughter as he realised what the sound was. The predator hesitated for a moment, thinking, then indicating to Kehlan, more by sign language than any other means, that she should remain where she was, he turned and disappeared into the jungle.

Kehlan stood for several moments, looking in the direction in which he had vanished, feeling a little unnerved by her sudden solitude. She was a Klingon warrior, she reminded herself sternly, she could and would survive here. Her Yautja friend would return. He would hardly have dragged her all this way only to abandon her now. In an effort to shake off her fears, she decided to make herself useful and contribute to the dinner table.

It was getting dark now and mindful of the fading light, she made her own way into the foliage, marking the trees with her dagger to enable her to find her way back. Moving silently, in the manner she had unconsciously picked up from her travelling companion, she was rewarded by the sight of a small squirrel-like creature nibbling something on a branch just above her eye level. Careful to make no sound that would alert the creature to her presence, she carefully withdrew her knife and taking aim, she threw it. Her aim was true and with a muted squeal as it died, the creature fell to the ground.

Satisfied, Kehlan moved over and picked up the furry carcass, taking note of the sticky sap like substance around its mouth. What had the creature been eating, she wondered, and was it edible to Klingons?

When George returned to the place where he had left the Ooman… no, he corrected himself, she had called herself Klingon, whatever that was… female, he found her sitting with her back against a tree trunk and skinning a pair of small animals with her knife. She'd also found fruit of various types he noted. That was good, meat was fine for a while but the sugars in the fruit would be most enjoyable.

With a grunt, he dropped his own kill onto the ground in front of her. The animal he'd hunted wasn't particularly large but it was big enough to provide them with fresh meat for several days. It didn't take them long to prepare the meal. Under the circumstances, lighting a fire did not seem advisable and by necessity, the meat was eaten uncooked. Having grown up on the Klingon home-world, Kehlan was not particularly bothered by raw meat and she ate her fill, finishing off her meal with some of the sweet, succulent berries she had found earlier.

Kehlan yawned suddenly and leaning back against the tree, she closed her eyes for a moment. She must have dozed off because the next thing she remembered, the predator was shaking her awake. It was fully dark now. If there was a moon or stars up there somewhere, their light was not penetrating the dense canopy. The sounds of the jungle had changed and the chirping of the insects and the rustling of unknown creatures somehow seemed ominous in the darkness.

George growled at her, and removing his clawed hand from her shoulder, he pointed upwards into the tree's branches. Seeing that she did not understand he gestured at her and then upwards again before nimbly climbing up the trunk. He gestured again and Kehlan's tired mind realised that he wanted her to follow him into the treetops. "You've got to be joking!" she muttered but at his insistent growl, she resignedly got to her feet and reached for the nearest branch, beginning, with some difficulty, to haul herself into the canopy.

Which was how, Kehlan thought ruefully, she had come to be falling out of a tree and nearly killing herself the following morning. It was a long way down from the vantage point that George had considered a safe place for them to spend the night and if it hadn't been for the predator's quick reactions….

He'd been right though to make her climb the tree, she acknowledged. She'd heard cracking twigs and snuffling sounds as some animal, a large animal, had passed through the clearing. In this jungle, it was not safe to sleep on the ground. Not that she'd slept much up the tree – it had not been the easiest place to get comfortable, and several times she had awoken with a start at some unknown sound, to see the Yautja's amber eyes staring unwaveringly at her. Had he slept at all, she wondered, or had he kept watch over her all night?

If going up the tree had been difficult, Kehlan quickly discovered that going down was even harder, or at least, getting down in one piece! The big predator, moving as easily through the branches as he did on the ground, shook his head, trilling with laughter as he watched her careful descent.

Safely back on the ground, the two enjoyed a breakfast of sweet, juicy berries left over from the night before and as she ate, Kehlan tried her communicator again. There was still no response, absolutely nothing, not even static. Seeing her companion's curious stare Kehlan wondered how she could explain to him that she was trying to contact her ship?

A sudden idea crossed her mind and she scraped away some of the undergrowth to reveal bare earth. Using a twig, she drew a circle with rays coming out of it to represent the sun. Then she drew a second circle near the first one, hoping he would understand that it represented the planet. Carefully watching his reactions, she drew a crude image of a starship.

His mandibles flared and he said something in his own language, extending one clawed finger to touch the image of the ship.

"Ship" Kehlan said, enunciating the word clearly and slowly. "Ooman ship." Bending forward, she added a second ship to the picture in the dirt. "Yautja ship."

The predator was still for a moment, considering. Then slowly he looked up, gesturing from the drawing to himself and back again. "Geo'rrge…. Yautja sssheep"

"Yes" Kehlan nodded with satisfaction. So far he seemed to understand. Their ability to communicate with each other might be rudimentary but it was a start. Her satisfaction was however, short lived.

With a motion that was startling in its suddenness, George leaned over and with one sweep of his claws, obliterated the image of the ship Kehlan had designated as Ooman. "Ooman no sssheep"

Kehlan stared at him in consternation. "Ooman no ship?" What in the name of Kahless did that mean?


	12. Chapter 12

At this time of day, early evening, the Ten Forward lounge was busy as various crewmembers congregated at shift's end to get something to eat and talk over the day with their friends and colleagues. Located, as its name suggested on deck ten and at the extreme fore of the ship, its windows afforded a good view of the Yautja ship. Not surprisingly, the alien vessel was the major topic of conversation in the bar.

Petty Officer Alberto Rossi nursed the large brandy the holographic barkeep had pressed into his hands. Synthehol or not, it tasted like the real thing, strong, smooth and potent, giving him at least the temporary illusion of comforting, mind numbing forgetfulness. With a sudden, convulsive gesture, he picked up the glass and gulped its contents down before holding out the empty glass for a refill. "Give me another, Bart" he demanded of the hologram, "and make it a double"

Bart, as the holographic Bartender liked to call himself, obligingly reached for the bottle of brandy. Deftly opening the lid, he started to pour. The amber liquid splashed on to the bar and with a slight frown, Bart removed the glass from Rossi's trembling hands and filled it up. "Something's got you in a twist" the hologram commented. "Want to talk about it?"

"Predators… Brutal murderers…" Rossi mumbled the reply before taking another mouthful of the brandy.

Sitting at a nearby table with his colleagues, Lieutenant J.G. Jonathon Price pricked up his ears as he listened to the conversation. Putting down his coffee, he pushed back his chair and got to his feet, crossing the few metres separating him from the bar. "You had a lucky escape" he remarked sympathetically. "It could have been you that was killed"

Rossi nodded vigorously, "It was horrible" he remembered, "O'Henry was a good guy, he didn't deserve that! All he did was bump into one of them and they slaughtered him like a pig"

"Those things are dangerous" Price agreed, "One of my ancestors was killed by them. They hunt us like we are animals!" He shuddered, "And now they are walking loose around this ship and killing people! It's not right!"

"I'm sure the command staff know what they are doing" Bart said uncomfortably before turning away to serve another customer.

"The captain's not here though, is she?" another crew member, wearing rank insignia that proclaimed him a chief petty officer, commented as he waited to be served, "I wouldn't be surprised if those…" He gestured towards the Yautja ship, "… had something to do with that!"

Rossi shivered, "Someone should do something"

"You should not say such things." The speaker was a tall, slightly skinny Lieutenant who spoke with a French accent. Philippe Goyard had transferred in from the USS Obready a few months back. He'd been listening to the conversation for some time but until now, had not contributed to it.

"Well it's true" Rossi said belligerently, "If the officers won't do anything, we…"

"Do not say it" Goyard interrupted urgently, getting to his feet. "Such talk could be considered mutiny! I want nothing to do with this." He placed his glass carefully on the bar and with a polite "_merci_" to the bartender, he turned and hurried away.

Bart raised an eyebrow and picked up the Frenchman's discarded drink as the lounge doors whispered shut behind him.

Beverages were also being served on Endeavour's bridge. Ch'Tang's science officer took a sip of the raktajino she had been offered and zoomed in on the cluster of data she had been examining. She scowled in concentration before looking up at the Vulcan seated next to her. "What's that?"

S'ian leaned over to study the data. "Background radiation" he said after a moment.

Vixis shook her head. "It's more than that" she insisted, reaching across him to manipulate the console in an attempt to clear up the image. "Look, here's the galactic background… and here… there's a slight spike in the gamma spectrum that isn't natural"

The Vulcan considered the information on the screen before slowly nodding. She was right and while it might turn out to be nothing, it was worth investigating. "Run a scan" he instructed, "See if we can trace it back to its source"

"The Yautja may consider a scan to be provocative" Vixis reminded him. Not particularly concerned at the idea, she was already initiating the procedure.

"We have a missing captain" S'ian pointed out calmly, "The Yautja have refused to negotiate without her presence. Logic dictates therefore that they will not take offence if we do everything in our power to locate her"

"I thought you'd say that" Vixis grinned. "Initiating scans"

For some time Vulcan and Klingon worked together, side by side, concentrating on the information that was coming in from the scans.

"I'm detecting traces of duranium alloy on the planet's surface" S'ian said eventually, his fingers deftly manipulating the computer and enhancing the data stream.

The Klingon scientist frowned, leaning closer to S'ian to study the information on his console. "Federation combadges contain Duranium. It is not a natural substance."

The Vulcan touched his comm badge, opening a channel. "General, we have picked up a signal" he reported crisply, "We believe it may be Captain Kehlan's combadge"

"On my way!" With typical Klingon abruptness Khetara cut the call.

A few moments later, the turbo-lift doors opened disgorging the Klingon General onto the bridge, along with Colonel Speares and the Yautja contingent. After the incident in the corridors, not feeling it appropriate to leave the ambassador and his escort in the hands of junior officers, Khetara had decided to bring them to the bridge with her.

There was a frown on the Klingon woman's face as she stepped onto the bridge, "Any life-signs?"

"No General" S'ian said, "However the signal is hidden in the galactic background radiation. It is very faint and there may be something blocking our scans"

"Well done S'ian"

"The credit belongs to Vixis" the Vulcan said steadily. "It is she who noticed the data spike"

Khetara felt a moment of pride. Vulcans, with their logical minds, were considered the best scientists in the galaxy. It was almost a cliché, reinforced by the fact that the majority of Vulcans serving in Starfleet, served in a scientific capacity. Every ship wanted a Vulcan science officer. But it was_ her_ scientist, a Klingon, who had found the elusive link that just might lead to the recovery of the missing captain. She made a mental note to recommend Vixis for a commendation once this was over.

Vixis shrugged off the praise, pulling up a map of the planet's surface. "The signal appears to be coming from a mountainous region in the north of the main continent. Our scans show the area is mostly covered with jungle."

"I don't understand it" Speares said frustratedly, "There's nothing wrong with the transporters, the coordinates were correct. How did she… or her comm signal… end up down there?"


	13. Chapter 13

Kihr'yende listened carefully to the conversation of the Federation officers. Regardless of species or language barrier, this was what he understood. He was a ship's captain. The ebb and flow of information across the bridge was second nature to him. For the first time since his arrival on this ship, he felt a degree of kinship with its crew – limited admittedly, he was still a hunter first and foremost and they were still prey.

Raising a forearm he studied the computer built into his gauntlet before making an adjustment to its programming with a clawed finger, activating the two way translation function that would allow his words to be translated into Federation Standard. For the first time, the Starfleet officers would be able to understand his speech. Until now he had not cared for them to have that ability, but they would need it if their missing captain were to be retrieved safely.

"Your transporters…" the tall predator chose his words carefully, "Did you account for the temporal distortion field while programming your coordinates?"

There was a long silence on the bridge that was eventually broken by Endeavour's Vulcan science officer. "Our scans of the system detected no chroniton particles"

Kihr'yende growled and with a few steps, he crossed the bridge to stand between the two science officers, leaning over them to study the images on the screen. The written text meant nothing to him, but the graphs spoke for themselves. "The problem is not chronitons" he said finally. The sciences were not his area of expertise and he thought for a moment, growling under his breath in frustration as he wondered how best to explain the time distortions that flooded this region of space.

"Time is like a river" he said carefully, as he remembered the way his teachers had explained it to him as a child. "It flows from source to end and like the water in the river, sometimes it flows slow and sometimes fast. It has eddies and backflows. This area of space is full of the eddies. You can negotiate them safely, but only if you are aware of them.

S'ian considered the Predator's explanation. While undoubtedly simplistic, it displayed a degree of logic that he found surprising in a race of hunters. It was already known that time did always not flow at the same rate. The Terran phrase "Time flies when you're having fun" while considered more an illustration of perception, did actually demonstrate the concept at its most basic level. There were good reasons why near light speed travel was avoided – it was a proven fact that time slowed down relative to the point of departure. Equally, he knew of at least one planetary system where time flowed at a much faster rate than the outside universe. The river analogy was both poetic and effective.

"I assume you are able to detect the temporal eddies?" the Vulcan asked bluntly, "Are you willing to share that knowledge with us?"

About to speak, Kihr'yende thought better of it. The decision on what technology could be shared was not for him to make. He turned back to his father, wordlessly seeking guidance. The elder inclined his head, silently giving his consent to the exchange of information.

Reassured, the younger Predator turned back to the two scientists. "You will need to adjust your navigational array and the frequency modulation of your scanners" he told them.

Vixis frowned, mostly in concentration but also in annoyance at her lack of knowledge. Temporal mechanics was not her area of expertise. "You will assist us with this?"

"I will have the temporal maps and the necessary information sent across to you" Kihr'yende decided. "Open a channel to my ship"

Unsure about taking orders from the Predator, the communications officer looked across at Speares for confirmation and he nodded, "Do it, Lieutenant."

"Aye sir!" Lieutenant Baker did as she was bade, "Channel open. Audio only"

Khetara watched interestedly as the tall predator snapped orders to the crew on the Yautja vessel. It was obvious from his conduct and his bearing as he spoke to them, that her first instincts had been correct. This was no mere guard, but someone of rank, accustomed to giving orders and having them obeyed. Keeping her voice low, she commented as much to Endeavour's temporary commanding officer.

"I'd say we're looking at their captain" Speares agreed, keeping his voice equally quiet.

Predators had good hearing. Kihr'yende turned to face them. "You are correct" he said, "I am Kihr'yende, captain of the Yautja ship Yeyinde." Gesturing towards the other predator, he continued, "My companion is Da'rian. He is…" He paused for a moment, deciding on the best translation, "…what you would call Head of Security"

"Transmission coming in from the Yautja ship" Lieutenant Baker reported, "Routing data through to the Science console."

"Data received" S'ian said calmly, bringing the maps up on his screen and studying the information. The Yautja data was not completely compatible with Starfleet technology and it took the two scientists several moments to fully integrate the information into their system.

S'ian stared at the console in silence for long moments before turning in his chair to face the commanding officers. "General Rustadh, Colonel Speares, you need to see this. I am transferring the maps to the main screen now"

The huge screen at the front of the bridge flickered, as the Vulcan sent the information across, then cleared again to show a tactical display of the solar system. The Yautja captain touched the console with a clawed finger. "Enlarge this section"

S'ian obeyed, magnifying the area that the Predator had indicated. Clearly visible was a winding ribbon of distortion looping around, through and between the two allied ships, intersecting the vessels in several sections, including Endeavour's main transporter core.

"Qu'vatlh!" Vixis swore, staring at the screen.

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow at her language but could not disagree with the sentiment "I suspect" S'ian said, his voice apparently calm but with the faintest hint of tension betraying his concern to those who knew him best, "that if we compare this data with our transporter logs, we will find that Captain Kehlan beamed through the distortion. We are looking at the reason for her disappearance"

The Predator Elder watched with approval and the faintest hint of relief as his son interacted with the bridge personnel. Kihr'yende was fiercely loyal to his father but he had not understood or approved of his politics and privately at least, had strongly opposed the idea of a treaty with beings that had once been their prey. In the privacy of their quarters, they'd had several arguments on the subject, arguments that on more than one occasion had almost come to blows. If Kihr'yende could learn to work with them, then the others would follow. He noted also the lack of fear or discomfort shown by the two scientists as they worked with the predator captain. He had studied their cultures enough to know that neither a Klingon nor a Vulcan would show fear, although for completely different reasons, but their body language indicated nothing more than concentration on their work. His expression hidden behind his mask, his mandibles flared slightly in a faint smile. Just maybe, there was a chance he could make this work.


	14. Chapter 14

The second day's march was no easier for Kehlan than the first one had been. The predator she had nicknamed George seemed to have no mercy and had kept up a punishing pace that left her exhausted and struggling to keep up. Before the trek had begun, George had watched with what could only be amusement glittering in those deep set amber eyes as his Klingon companion tried to work some of the kinks and aches out of her system. The clearing they had sheltered in had been just large enough for her to spend a few scant minutes working through a condensed form of her usual morning exercise routine. The traditional movements of _mok'bara_ usually left her feeling relaxed and centred, ready for anything. Today it had done nothing to alleviate the tension she felt, the nagging feeling that something was very, very wrong.

Kehlan paused for a moment to take a quick drink of water and wipe the perspiration from her eyes. The heat and humidity were almost unbearable. There was in fact, very little sweat to wipe away and the Klingon woman knew she would have to be vigilant or fall victim to severe dehydration. She had long since discarded the armoured jacket with the fur sleeves that formed part of her uniform. In this climate its weight was a liability she could not afford. The light under-vest she wore would offer her no protection in a fight but her earlier battle with the alien creature had already proved that her armour was useless in that regard. The beast's razor sharp talons had ripped through the heavy leather jacket with its metal plates as though it were made of wet tissue paper.

She sighed, wishing, not for the first time since she'd been stranded on this planet, for a cold shower and a comfortable bed… or any bed for that matter. Even the hard metal bunk that served as a sleeping surface on Klingon ships would be an improvement on clinging to a branch half way up a tree.

The Klingon captain took another careful sip of water from the container George had given her. Thankfully water seemed to be plentiful in this environment, as did food, or at least, plentiful for those who knew where to look for it. Even so, it was a precious resource that she was determined not to squander. Kehlan had been well trained in survival skills and like most Klingons she was a natural hunter. Surviving here until her ship came for her… IF they came for her… the thought was unproductive and she attempted to push it away… would not be difficult, provided that was, that those _g'dayt_ monsters would only leave them alone.

After several hours of travel, she was still no closer to understanding that cryptic comment that George had made during what passed for breakfast. Just when she had thought they were beginning to communicate, it had all gone wrong. What had he meant with those words, 'Ooman no ship' she wondered? What had he been trying to tell her? It seemed to Kehlan that he had been telling her that her ship was not there. Had the Yautja – or someone or something else - destroyed Endeavour or forced it to withdraw? That her communicator was useless, not even giving off static, led her to fear the worst. That her communicator was useless, not even giving off static, led her to fear the worst. Even if a Federation vessel were destroyed, she should still be able to receive the automated transponders of the life-pods or at the very least, the flight recorder – the Black Box as the Terrans called it.

So far, there had been two more encounters with the alien creatures, the _Kainde Amedha_ as she had learned George called them. The first had been a chance meeting with a single specimen. Crashing through the undergrowth right into their path, the creature had been as surprised as they were and George had taken it down easily and efficiently, barely seeming to tax himself.

The second encounter had been a little more closely run. It was later in the day and the movement of the planet had placed the light against them. The odd couple were walking almost directly into the sun when an entire pack of the creatures had come blundering into their way. If the young predator's senses had not been so attuned to their surroundings that he had heard them coming before they actually arrived, the skirmish might have ended differently. Certainly, Kehlan reflected, it had been a hard fought battle. Taking on one of the creatures had been bad enough but several of them at once and in such an enclosed space had been almost too much. As it was, both she and George would have several new scars to show off once their wounds healed.

Actually, she thought, she owed the Yautja hunter her life. At one point during the battle, as she had attempted to defend herself from one of the creatures, a second one had sideswiped her with its vicious claws, sending her crashing into a tree trunk. The impact was so hard that the tree shuddered and a number of pieces of foliage and several branches tumbled down on top of the fallen Klingon. Kehlan had almost lost consciousness as she'd slid down the trunk into a heap on the ground, Sensing an easy victory her foe had had moved in for the kill. For a moment, her muggy, stunned brain could only process the concept that she was probably about to die. She would have died in moments except somehow George had been there, those formidable gauntlet mounted blades lashing out and driving the alien back, giving her the precious time she needed to stagger to her feet, raise the weapon that miraculously was still in her hand and rejoin the fight.

There was no let up in the Yautja's relentless pace even after the battle was won. By the time George called a halt, it was getting dark again and Kehlan was in a state of complete mental and physical exhaustion. She sank gratefully to the ground, too tired to bother with the rations that the predator was pressing into her hands. He growled at her and she knew that he was telling her to eat. Hazily she shook her head, her eyes closing as she gave into the seductive, numbing bliss of unconsciousness. Sleep claimed her. It wasn't safe to sleep on the ground. She knew that but could not bring herself to care.

Kehlan never stirred from her slumber as her Yautja companion lifted her carefully. Taking a moment to arrange her so that he was supporting her weight with one arm, her limp body half draped over his shoulder, he leapt for the tree tops and the comparative safety that the jungle canopy offered. When he judged they were high enough to be safe, George laid Kehlan on a wide bough, propping her against a fork in the trunk so that she would not fall. The black sky above was speckled with the glittering diamonds of stars as he had hunkered down to keep watch over the exhausted Klingon and wait for dawn.


	15. Chapter 15

If temporal physics was not one of Vixis' strong points, it was even less one of Khetara's and she scowled as she studied the images on the screen. She did not completely understand the explanation she was being given. "So what you are saying" she said eventually, "is that Kehlan beamed to coordinates aboard my ship and that… anomaly… threw her elsewhere"

"Essentially, yes" S'ian agreed. The General's summary was not completely accurate but it was, he felt, better not to argue. His extensive experience of serving with non Vulcans had taught him that long winded lectures and explanations were both useless and counter productive.

Speares too had little understanding of physics. He was a marine... a soldier, not a scientist. It was his job to fight, to lead his men… and women… into battle and bring them back alive. "We need to send down an away team" he said, "If we can find the captain's comm badge then at the very least we may be able to find out what happened to her"

Khetara agreed. Addressing the two scientists, she gave them her instructions. "Vixis and S'ian, I want you both to go down to the planet, and track the source of that signal." She glanced at Speares, "Send a contingent of marines with them. I want them fully armed and ready for anything"

A clawed hand landed on Khetara's shoulder and she turned her head, to see the Elder nodding his approval of her orders. Through his translator he urged "I will send my hunters with them. This planet is dangerous for you"

The Klingon General considered that. "What can we expect down there?"

Not yet ready to give a detailed explanation of the _Kainde Amedha_, the Elder said merely, "This is one of our hunting reserves. It has been some years since our last visit and the prey has flourished. All you need know is that they are big, fast and deadly"

"They dwell in the caves" Kihr'yende added. He gave a low growl of concern as he continued, "If your captain has ventured into those caves, you had better hope she is dead!" Even through the translation device, his grim tone made it clear he was neither exaggerating nor understating the danger, simply reporting the facts as he saw them and it was evident that he was not expecting a good outcome.

Raising an eyebrow Khetara looked at the ambassador and nodded "Your warning is well noted. We would be glad of your assistance."

"This is our world" Kihr'yende told her seriously, "We know its dangers. You must trust us here and obey our hunters without question or hesitation if you wish to survive unharmed"

"Understood!" As she answered, Khetara wondered briefly if, once this was over, she would get a chance to go down there and hunt with these Predators? She suspected it would be a challenging and exhilarating experience. That was for later though. First things first - retrieve Captain Kehlan, hopefully alive and then negotiate a treaty.

The Predator Elder turned his attention to the commander of his guard and began to issue instructions. "Da'rian, you will take a team of hunters down to the planet. Choose your steadiest, most experienced, warriors, the ones you trust the most. This is NOT a hunt. You are to protect the Federation team, assist them in their search and bring them back alive"

Da'rian growled in protest, not liking the orders he had been given. "My job is to protect you, Honoured One"

Turning on the younger predator, the Elder let out a snarl, his posture reinforcing the demand for compliance from his subordinate. "There is no threat to me here Da'rian. I expect your obedience in this. Or would you send them down there alone to fall prey to the _Kainde Amedha_?"

"Send my deputy instead. He is more than competent" Da'rian said stubbornly, "My place is at your side"

The Elder shook his head emphatically, the movement sending his highly decorated braids flying in an arc around his head. "I am safe enough here. I need you, Da'rian. Our prey is ripe for the hunting. The other will not be able to keep control."

Slowly and reluctantly, the younger Predator lowered his head in obedience to his Elder's wishes. He had sparred often enough with his senior to know the truth of his words. He doubted that there was anyone on board this ship who could defeat the Elder in a fair fight. It was the possibility of treachery that concerned him, but there was no point in arguing further. The Elder's mind was made up. "It will be as you order, Honoured One"

Speares listened with interest to the conversation between the two predators. The big marine found himself stifling a grin. He'd had several similar conversations with his own captain when he'd felt she was placing herself in unnecessary danger and like the younger Predator he'd lost the argument every time.

Khetara must have been thinking something very similar. "Not so very different to us, after all" she said quietly to Speares, "Junior officers can be overly… protective… of their seniors"

Hidden behind his ornate mask, the Elder's eyes glittered with amusement at the comment but he gave no indication of hearing the comments of the Federation officers. To do so would not be seemly. Instead he focused on his subordinate. "Take the shuttle back to Yeyinde" he instructed. "Choose your team and take them down to the agreed landing area. The Federation teams will meet you there and you will take command of them."

As the Elder was giving his orders, Colonel Speares was making his own arrangements. Quickly and efficiently, he gave his marines their orders, making it very clear that they were to obey the Yautja in all things while down on the ground. Ordinarily he would have led the away team himself; as first officer and commander of the marines, that was his duty and his privilege. Staying behind in safety while his people put their lives on the line was not natural to him and for the first time, he truly understood the frustration Kehlan had felt on so many occasions when he had insisted on her staying on board the ship. But for the moment at least, he was in command of the ship and it was his turn to stay behind, something he did not like at all.

Khetara too was making plans. Contacting the Ch'Tang, she arranged for a team of her own warriors to join the away team on the surface of the planet and as Speares had done, made sure they understood the dangers involved. Like the Federation team, they were to obey any commands or instructions given them by the Yautja as though they had come directly from her. Satisfied that it would be done according to her wishes, she cut the transmission and turned her attention to the business at hand. "You have your orders" she barked, "Dismissed!"

S'ian said nothing as he and Vixis left the bridge to prepare for the away mission. Looking back at the screen, he performed a mental calculation. It tallied. He already knew what the away team would find. For now he would remain silent and keep his doubts to himself. Once they had recovered Kehlan's comm badge, they would have another piece of the puzzle in their possession and with the aid of the luck that the Terrans seemed to rely on so much, they would be able to locate and retrieve their missing captain.


	16. Chapter 16

They had been walking for several hours the following day – or maybe the day after – Kehlan could no longer keep track as the days ran into each other. They were still being hunted. They'd fought and killed more of the alien things than Kehlan could be bothered to count and still they kept coming. And whatever was controlling them was slowly coming closer. They were staying ahead of it but only just… and each day the distance between them lessened. Unless they reached whatever destination the young Predator had in mind within the next few days, it was going to catch up with them. She was all too aware that on his own, he would be able to move far faster. It was her presence that was slowing him down.

Abruptly Kehlan came to a halt. Enough was enough. She would be the first to admit that the Predator's skills in survival and hunting were far superior to hers, and that he was much more familiar with their environment, but even so, he was very young and inexperienced and he did not have the years of tactical training that she had. If there was going to be a fight, then better it was on their terms. Kehlan's warrior blood was calling to her to stop running and to turn and fight. It was time to heed it.

"George"

At the sound of her voice, the predator stopped instantly, turning to face her, an enquiring look on his face.

"It's time to fight" she told him, and knowing he did not understand her words, she lifted up the weapon in her hands, making a gesture as though stabbing something and then pointed back the way they had come.

The Predator's mandibles flared in concentration as he considered her meaning. "Fffffight?" He repeated the word carefully, trying out the sounds and then gestured with his own weapon. "Fffight"

"Yes" Kehlan nodded vigorously "Fight"

The predator remained still for a moment, then, with a sudden motion he launched himself into the trees, climbing until he was out of sight, hidden by the dense foliage.

Patiently, Kehlan waited, wondering what he was doing and knowing she would find out in due course. Sure enough he returned quickly, a satisfied expression on his face. He gestured, not in the direction they had been going, but off to the right. "Fffight!" Seeing she did not completely understand his meaning, he tried again. "Fffight good!" He had learned that word from Kehlan earlier, along with several other words of her language – simple words like yes and no.

Fight good. Kehlan considered what he was telling her and then it became clear. If she understood him correctly, over to the right was a good place for them to prepare for what was coming and take the battle to the enemy. "Okay" she said, moving in the direction he had indicated, "Let's go"

As they walked, Kehlan considered what she knew of their enemy. If what hunted them was an Alien Queen, she had no doubt she was in for the fight of her life. She had not yet laid eyes on the creature, but she'd seen and killed plenty of the drones and so far the ancient movie makers had been all too accurate. The Queen was going to be big, fast and dangerous and they needed every advantage if they were to be successful in not just surviving, but taking her down.

The spot George had chosen was not far away and it did not take them long to reach it. Kehlan surveyed the site carefully and nodded in satisfaction. The clearing was a relatively large one, roughly circular in shape and with flat, even ground. It was suitable for their purpose.

The situation they were in worried Kehlan. She needed weapons. The borrowed sword she carried, while effective, would not be sufficient against the approaching creature. Whatever it was, it was bigger and deadlier than the things they had already been fighting and they had been bad enough. She shuddered at the memory of that blank, eyeless skull and the way that vicious mouth within a mouth had come shooting out. What was the word he had used for the creatures_? Kainde Amedha?_

Kehlan looked around at George who stood motionless, his stillness reminding Kehlan of vids she had seen of Terran crocodiles. The huge prehistoric reptiles could lie still below the surface of the water for hours, watching for potential prey without so much as a ripple to give their presence away. The jungle that George gazed into was almost silent now, unnaturally so. Only a faint shaking of the ground and a whisper of leaves in the high canopy gave away the approach of their pursuer. It was close now. Their detour, whilst it had been a tactical necessity, had allowed the thing to close the distance between them.

Thinking for several moments, Kehlan remembered something she had seen in one of the movies. It seemed crazy but just because some film director or scriptwriter had thought of it first, didn't mean it wouldn't work. The characters had used part of the Xenomorph drone's body as weapons against the queen. She dismissed the idea of using the skull almost immediately. It was too heavy and cumbersome to use as an effective shield. The tail spike however, could easily be adapted into a primitive but effective spear... if only she had a tail spike to adapt! It would be very convenient, she thought optimistically, if a drone would turn up in time for them to butcher it and turn it into the weapon they needed.

A menacing hiss sounded behind them and Kehlan grinned. Bang on time, there it was. "Bingo" she muttered and turned to attack the creature. She and George were well practiced now at fighting the alien creatures. Working together as a team, killing one was no longer difficult and while she was anything but complacent, it was almost a matter of routine.

With the creature dead at their feet, Kehlan could get to work. She stood for a moment, considering how best to achieve her goal. She needed a long straight branch to use as a shaft for her makeshift spear and some twine to bind it to the tail spike. More by sign language than words, she was able to convey to the young predator what she was trying to do and with a nod of understanding and approval, he leapt for the treetops. Kehlan could only stand and admire his agility as he gathered what was needed before returning to ground level to assist her in making the weapon.

The final knot was bound with barely moments to spare. George handed the spear to Kehlan. Gripping the primitive weapon, she tested it and discovered that, considering its origin and hurried manufacture, the spear was surprisingly well balanced. She would have no problems wielding it.

"Thanks!" She looked up at the tall predator and smiled her gratitude.

"Fffiiiiight"

"Fight" Kehlan confirmed, bracing herself for the battle to come. She could feel her heart rate accelerating as adrenaline coursed through her. There was no time to reflect upon it as the undergrowth split apart. The Alien Queen was upon them.


	17. Chapter 17

The active chatter in Ten Forward faded as the group of officers and ambassadors entered. It did not fall completely silent but there was a marked reduction in the decibel level. Bart grinned across the counter as he polished a glass, studying the newcomers with interest. So these were the infamous Predators everyone was talking about. His grin faded. He really needed to have a quiet talk with Colonel Speares. The hologram was an experienced bartender, he knew that people often said things they didn't mean, but even so, some of what he had heard worried him.

Kihr'yende's gaze was drawn immediately to the view from the enormous windows that lined the room. Slowly he moved closer and the crowd of sightseers parted, moving back to avoid him. Almost hypnotised he drank in the sight of _Yeyinde_. "I rarely get to see my ship from the outside" he told Khetara quietly, his tone almost reverent.

The Klingon nodded, wordlessly agreeing as a moment of understanding passed between the two commanding officers.

Dragging his eyes away from his ship, the Predator captain examined the room. He was enjoying this tour of the ship and while still wary, was beginning to relax a little. Engineering in particular had caught his interest, as had the holodecks. Kihr'yende could see great potential for the latter, although he doubted his father had appreciated the lecture on holographic technology. If the Elder had been bored though, he'd hidden it well.

As the two Ambassadors looked around the room, the holographic bartender pulled out some of the large metallic beakers normally used to serve bloodwine. He thought for a moment, considering what drink to offer the newcomers before deciding on Prune Juice. The Klingons seemed to like the foul concoction, calling it a warrior's drink. He had an idea the Yautja might like it as well. He was about to unstopper the bottle and pour the drinks when he stopped, looking again at the Yautja. Their masks covered their faces completely, with no apertures around the mouth or nasal areas. Obviously, he reasoned, they were wearing the masks for a reason, although what that reason might be escaped him. Some instinct told him it might not be diplomatic to ask them to remove them. "Would... either of you honoured gentlemen care to sample a beverage?" he ventured, finally.

The Elder cocked his head slightly, studying the hologram with interest. Sensing something different, he touched a control, activating the heat sensors in his mask. There was no thermal signature coming from the bartender, he simply was not there. Tensing, the old Predator let out a low growl of wary confusion, not quite understanding what he was looking at.

Colonel Speares was at his side immediately. "Is something troubling you sir?"

The Predator turned his gaze on the Ooman. "What is this that stands in front of me?"

"Oh" Speares hid his impending smile of relief. "Elder, this is our Bartender. He is an artificial life-form – a hologram actually. His name is Bart"

The Elder had heard about the Federation's use of holography, but having paid minimal attention to the earlier lecture, had not realised it had applications outside the holodeck. He shrugged. Whatever this thing was, it had spoken respectfully and offered no threat. Switching back to normal vision, he stared curiously at the hologram. "When my mission is over" he told it, "I will return here and accept your offer… and you will explain to me how it is that a hologram may tend a bar"

Bart nodded agreeably and grinned. "I'll keep your drink on ice, sir" he promised.

With a faint trill of satisfaction, that somehow reminded Speares of a purring cat, the Elder turned away. Moving to follow him, Speares caught sight of Rossi, sitting at a table with some of his friends. Unaware of his gaze, the Petty Officer was staring at the two Yautja, a look of hate twisting his normally placid features. Speares tensed, muttering something rude under his breath as the Italian got to his feet. It was time to get the ambassadors out of here, Speares decided, ushering them towards the doors and at the same time, gesturing to the security escort. It would be a good idea for them to take Rossi into custody before he did something stupid and got himself and very likely several others killed.

The doors to the bar swung open and the ambassadors stepped through them, followed by the Klingon General. Speares stopped, turning back enquiringly as a voice called his name. Rossi was not the only one on his feet he discovered. The Petty Officer seemed to have backup from his fellow crewmen. "Colonel Speares we want to talk to you. We want justice!"

The big marine frowned, not liking this. "I need to deal with this" he told Khetara. "Carry on the tour without me and I'll catch up as soon as I can"

"Understood" Khetara responded tensely. The developing atmosphere in the bar worried her and she wanted to get the ambassadors away from the area before any trouble could materialise. She had already seen first hand what the Yautja were capable of and the last thing she needed was a bloodbath caused by an angry and offended Predator. She stepped into the corridor and the lounge doors closed behind her.

As the debate in Ten Forward escalated, no-one noticed when a crewmember got up and quietly left, making his way through the corridors of the ship towards the cargo bays. It had gone exactly as he had hoped, as he had predicted. The unfortunate 'incident' earlier in the day and the surviving crewman's drunken grief, had done more than he could have hoped to assist him in his mission.

Thanks to the time of day and Khetara's orders to keep non-essential personnel out of the way, the main thoroughfares were deserted and he passed no-one, only a small cleaning robot, whirring away as it passed back and forth, polishing the floors of the corridor. Irritably, he kicked it out of his way and continued towards his goal.

Slipping into Cargo Bay One, the largest of Endeavour's freight handling facilities and the one that the senior officers were most likely to show to the Predators, he moved across to the control console and inserting a data chip that would give him access to the systems at a level far beyond his own security clearance level, he set to work.

He was a skilled engineer and quickly and efficiently he began to enter commands, rerouting subroutines and disconnecting the bridge override. Speed was of the essence. He had very little time to accomplish his goals and getting caught was not part of his plan. Finally, with a cold smile, he stepped back, the job done. The Klingon General and her visitors would enter the cargo bay and they would not leave it alive. It was unfortunate, he acknowledged, that undoubtedly there would be innocents killed as well, but he had his orders. Satisfied that all would go according to plan, he silently left the cargo bay in search of a safe, quiet place to wait.

Dark and ominously silent, the cargo bay waited, empty for almost an hour before the group of officers and alien dignitaries finally arrived. Overhead rigs ignited, flooding the cavernous space with light. Khetara stepped forward, gesturing with a hand towards the nearby equipment as she began to describe the freight operations to the Yautja.

The group slowly moved around the cargo bay, examining the various facilities. Under the watchful eye of the security escort, a group of crewmen began a demonstration of the antigrav cranes. Kihr'yende listened carefully to the explanations. It was not so different to his own ship, he decided, cargo was after all, cargo. It was obvious to him that the Oomans were extremely proud of their equipment and he had to admit that the emotion was warranted. They were small and relatively weak, but their ingenuity more than made up for their deficiencies. He made a noise that the demonstration team decided was likely to mean approval. They showed their teeth at him in response and it took great restraint for the Yautja Captain to remember that the baring of teeth was the Ooman way of demonstrating pleasure or appreciation rather than a threat or a challenge. He nodded slightly and moved on.

Concealed in the junction of two jefferies tubes deep in the bowels of the ship, the saboteur waited for the right moment to act. Using another officer's ID, he had remotely linked the main cargo bay computer to his padd and now he studied the display, waiting for the right moment to act. Not for the first time since this had begun, he experienced a moment of regret for the lives he was about to take. He knew and liked some of the freight handling team. Dismissing the thought as irrelevant, he checked the padd again. The life sign indicators were as ideally placed as they ever would be. It was time to act. He hit the control and slowly the great cargo bay doors began to open.

At first no one noticed. No alarm sounded. No warning lights flashed around the edge of the hatch. It was not until the wind whipped up that anyone realised something was wrong and by then it was already too late. The roar of the escaping air and collapsing equipment all but drowned out the terrified scream as a crewman was blown out into space.

Khetara lunged for the console, frantically trying to engage the emergency force-fields but nothing was working as it should. She was barely able to hit the alarm before the almost hurricane force wind pulled her away from the console and towards the open doors. She slammed straight into what felt like an iron bar. Kihr'yende's clawed hand gripped the Klingon General around the waist as he pulled her against him and braced his legs, toes gripping the deck and his free hand hanging on grimly to the nearest piece of gantry-work. The predator captain had just saved her life, she realised, or more accurately, she corrected herself, had bought her a few more seconds of life.

With some effort Khetara managed to raise her arm to the combadge pinned to her uniform, "Khetara to bridge… emergency… beam…" Words became impossible. There was no longer any oxygen left in her lungs and black spots danced before her eyes as her vision faded into darkness.


	18. Chapter 18

There had been some rumblings amongst the Yautja hunters chosen for the away mission when they had learned that instead of the long awaited hunt, they would be babysitting a bunch of Oomans. Da'rian had chosen well though. His team were all older warriors, experienced and well disciplined. He was confident there would be no problems – or at least, none caused by his team. He was well aware of the wary looks the Klingon and Federation teams were giving his hunters. He shrugged. Provided they obeyed his orders, he cared little for the opinions of prey.

The landing site he had chosen was not completely ideal but was adequate for their needs. There was barely enough room for the shuttles and landing all three had taken some precision flying on the part of the pilots, but it was the only piece of flat ground within several days march of the mountains where the signal had been detected, that was not completely covered with trees. His hunters were already spreading out, securing the site and scouting out their surroundings. This close to the mountains the area would be swarming with the _Kainde Amedha_ – nothing his hunters could not cope with but even so, the Federation teams had no idea of the dangers that faced them.

Da'rian had seen the results of impregnation with his own eyes and it was not a death he would wish on any sentient being. Once infested, a quick death at sword point was the only way to end the agony. The Federation were said to have very advanced medical technology, he mused, wondering momentarily if they had the skills to remove a _Kainde Amedha_ larva from a living host. He would mention it to the Elder, he decided. For now though he had a mission to accomplish. The two scientists were conferring over their tricorder and Da'rian approached them. "Your device" he asked, "What does it tell you?"

S'ian turned the display so the Predator Leader could see it. "There appears to be an extensive cave system not far from here. I believe we will find the source of the signal in those caves"

Da'rian sighed. He'd expected as much. Calling the teams together, he began the briefing. "We will be going into the caves" he told the gathered warriors. This territory is dangerous, more so than you can imagine and you must assume that any life-form you encounter _will_ attempt to kill you. This is not an exploratory mission… we will be going in only as far as is necessary to achieve our objective. You are to stay in groups. No-one wanders off alone. You are to obey any command from my hunters immediately and without hesitation. Am I understood?"

Satisfied that they did indeed understand, Da'rian took a moment to consider how best to deploy the troops. There was a fine line, he knew, between having enough warriors to complete the mission safely and successfully and having so many that in the confines of the caves, they became a liability. He would divide them into three groups, he decided, swiftly giving orders to that effect. One group would remain here to keep the landing site secure, the second group would remain outside the caves to keep watch and the third would enter the cave system. Radio contact between the three teams was to be maintained at all times.

As the tricorder had shown, the caves were not far away although it proved to be a difficult climb - for the Federation teams at least. The Yautja hunters did not seem at all fazed by the steep incline. Nor did the dark passages of the caves seem to bother them.

A slight movement caught Da'rian's eye and he froze. "_C'jit!"_ There had to be an incubation chamber nearby and one egg at least had already hatched. Unaware of the deadly danger he was in, one of the marines, a wiry Scotsman called Murray, moved closer to the wall, his attention focussed on the tricorder he was holding. In the poor lighting, he did not see creature on the wall as it coiled itself, ready to strike.

The Predator Leader did not hesitate. Pulling his _shuriken_ free from his belt in a swift, fluid motion, he flicked its lethal blades into position and threw it. The star-like weapon flew through the air with lethal grace, missing the marine's nose by mere millimetres and skewering the arachnoid creature in the middle of its underside as leapt for the face of its unsuspecting victim. The blades had been thrown with such force that they buried themselves in the cave wall, pinning the arachnoid creature there securely.

There had been no time for Da'rian to shout a warning and while his action had just saved Murray's life, it did not appear that way to his colleagues. Remembering how one of the Predators had slaughtered O'Henry on board the Endeavour, they not unnaturally assumed that Da'rian had taken them into a trap and was now attempting to kill them. Almost as one being, they aimed their phaser rifles at the Yautja Leader, ready to open fire if he made another aggressive move.

Da'rian stilled, turning his head to face the marines. He stared at them for long moments before saying with a low growl, "I do not miss my targets. If I had wanted to kill you then you would be dead!" Stepping forward, he approached the still writhing and screeching creature, dispatching it with one swift stroke of his knife. Pulling his _shuriken_ free, he caught the thing as it fell to the ground, holding it up by its tail, for them to see. "This is your enemy, not me. Should it attach itself to your face then the best you can hope for is a quick death at the hands of a friend." Disengaging the blades of the _shuriken_, Da'rian tucked it away in his belt before flinging the carcase away from him in a gesture of disgust.

As somewhat sheepishly, the marines lowered their weapons and returned to what they had been doing, the Predator Leader approached the two scientists. "Where there is one of those creatures, there will be more" he said bluntly, "Find your signal and quickly"

"Understood" Vixis said tensely, glancing at her Vulcan colleague, "According to our scans we are very close now"

Sian nodded, checking his tricorder. "Vixis is correct. I…."

He was interrupted by a shout from Murray. "Over here! I think I've found something!" Accompanied by his Klingon partner, the two men had gone on ahead, and had disappeared around a bend in the tunnel. The sound of their footsteps faded to silence as both men stopped.

The Klingon growled, "What in the name of Kahless…" He raised his voice, "Commander, you'd better come and see this"

The walls of the chamber they had found glowed with a faint phosphorescent slime that cast eerie shadows over row upon row of large ovoid objects. Many of them were old, dried up husks, long since vacated by the creatures they had incubated, but some were fresh. Da'rian heard one of his hunters swearing and could not blame him. Judging by the presence of the parasite he had killed, these eggs were very close to hatching. Time was short.

The tricorder chirped and drew their attention back to the reason they were in the caves. "Here", said Sian squatting as he started to gently brush away the silt and debris on the cave floor to reveal a point that resembled the head of an arrow.

"It looks like a combadge." Vixis squatted beside her partner and tapped her tricorder a few times. "Broken and corroded but still a comm badge"

"Indeed" the Vulcan said, carefully uncovering the metallic object and cleaning off the dirt. Checking the data displayed on the tricorder, he frowned slightly. He had hoped his suspicions were unfounded but the evidence suggested that he had not been in error. "I am detecting residues of Captain Kehlan's DNA. However it appears to have been here several hundred years."

"How is that even possible?" Vixis took the combadge from him and stood upright again, her mind racing as she tried to figure out the answers. "The temporal distortion must have…"

Before their analysis of the mystery could be explored further a shout behind them attracted their attention. "It's moving!" The voice belonged to Major Anna Cordero. An American of Latino descent, she was, apart from Vixis, the only female in the group, and was also the highest ranking of the Starfleet marines.

The nearest hunter turned his head to stare at the female marine and as he moved, the energy weapon mounted on his shoulder tracked his movement. In the dusty air, the laser guidance beam was visible and she could not completely suppress a feeling of unease as her eyes followed those red lines, tracking them from source to target, and finding a trio of crimson focus points just above her heart. Despite the apparent threat, she sensed no ill will from him, rather there was almost a sense of protectiveness. Why, she wondered, because she was female? There was no time to dwell on it though, there were more important things to deal with… like getting out of here alive! She gestured towards the nearest egg. "That one" she told him, "I think it's starting to hatch"


	19. Chapter 19

Mouth open in shock, the half Klingon captain stared at the monstrous creature that had just burst into their little clearing. She had expected the approaching enemy to be big but not this big! In contrast to the sheer size and the sense of immense danger she radiated, the warrior drones seemed small and harmless.

The _Kainde Amedha_ queen stood at around five metres tall, maybe more. Her monstrous skull was framed by a large spiked crest that extended back, protecting the vulnerable points at the back of the neck. She was sleek and almost skeletal in appearance, long slender legs that were nevertheless powerful and two pairs of arms at the front, one set long and the other shorter. Both sets terminated in human-like hands with long clawed fingers. Her segmented tail lashed from side to side, the motion reminding Kehlan of a Terran cat, although no cat she had ever seen had a tail lined with spikes and ending in a vicious barbed dart.

For a split second Kehlan came dangerously close to panic as the adrenaline flooding her system gave rise to the fight or flight instinct. Taking a deep breath, she ruthlessly forced back the fear that was threatening to overwhelm her. She was a Klingon warrior, she reminded herself and she would not run from danger. If death came for her today she would face it with honour, fighting to the end as a warrior should. There were far worse ways to end one's life than in battle side by side with a friend.

She glanced at the tall predator, meeting his eyes as she mentally prepared herself for the fight "_Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam" _she said, reverting momentarily to her native language, "It is a good day to die"

Her Yautja companion did not comprehend the words she had spoken, but something in her tone and expression gave him an idea of their importance. "_D'tai'kai-dte sa-de nau'gkon dtain'aun bpi-de" _he responded. The words seemed appropriate. 'The fight begun would not end until the end'. An old proverb, one that George had heard many times without completely understanding. Of course a fight ended when it ended, why say something so obvious? Now though, as he looked at the _Kainde Amedha_ queen, he finally understood. This had been his first hunt, his blooding hunt. He'd already been successful, had acquired the necessary trophies to prove his adulthood, his ability as a warrior, but if he could take down the _Kainde Amedha_ queen and bring back her skull then his position in the pack would be assured.

The young hunter shrugged, amused by the irony of his ambition. His first hunt might well also be his Final Hunt. Blooded warriors, older, more experienced and better armed than he had lost their lives to the alien queens. To tackle one with only blade and claws was suicide. He could see in Kay-lan's eyes that she understood that. If she felt fear, she was not showing it, rather an acceptance and readiness for what was to come. Well, the Predator decided, if the Black Warrior desired their presence, then they would go with honour. He could think of no better company at his end.

What had gone wrong, the young hunter wondered? There should have been no queen on this world. Blooding hunts were strictly regulated by the Elders and followed an age old pattern that had served them well for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Eggs from the captive queen were seeded on the chosen planet, each one numbered and accounted for from the moment of laying through to the death of the drone. The Hunt Leaders would allow just enough time to let the drones emerge and grow and then the hunt would begin. At the end of the hunt, any drone left alive would be tracked down and killed by the older warriors. Why, George asked himself, had so much time been allowed to go by that a queen had been able to develop?

Time seemed to both speed up and slow down as, hissing, the queen lunged towards them, her jaws gaping open revealing that rod-like inner mouth with its rows of serrated, razor sharp teeth. Her attention was almost completely on the Yautja, some vague genetic memory warning her that his kind represented danger. The other being, the small one, she did not recognise and she dismissed it as irrelevant, nothing more than a potential host for one of her young.

Wristblades extended, the young predator braced himself for the onslaught, holding himself still until the last possible second, then moving to attack, blades flashing in the dappled sunlight as he launched himself forward.

Kehlan studied the creature looking for vulnerable points. There had to be a way to turn the creature's superior size and weight against it. She remembered the words of her teachers. '_Suvlu'taHvIS yapbe' HoS neH!' _Brute strength is not the most important asset in a fight. In a battle like this, guile and intelligence counted for much.

A thick chitinous exoskeleton covered the queen's body, much as it did the drones. The weak points would be the joints, she realised, and the throat. As the monstrous queen lowered her head, powerful double jaws snapping at the young predator, Kehlan saw her opportunity. Letting out a harsh battle cry, she dashed in, under the queens outstretched limbs and stabbed upwards with her improvised spear. Her aim was true and the spike found that tiny chink between the armoured plates at the junction between neck and head. With a scream of pain and fury, the queen reared up, the force of her movement ripping the shaft of the spear out of Kehlan's grip.

"_Cjit"_ Kehlan swore, unknowingly using a word she had picked up from her predator friend. She was unsure of the exact translation but its sound was close enough to a particular Terran expletive for her to guess at its meaning. The long spindly fingers of the queen's hand grabbed hold of the spear shaft ripping it free and flinging it away from herself, the gesture opening up the wound further and sending a gout of white acidic blood spraying in every direction. Kehlan dived sideways to avoid the burning acid, the movement followed by viciously snapping jaws.

His mandibles flaring slightly in amusement at his companion's language, George let out a howl, reminding the queen of his presence and distracting her from his companion. Hissing her displeasure, she turned her great head from one to the other and the young predator howled a second time, brandishing his weapons at her. Satisfied that his Klingon friend was clear he pivoted and struck at her inner jaw.

The queen was too quick for him. Screeching she brought up a limb to protect herself and lashed out at her tormentor. George had injured her, the blow that had  
been intended for her jaw, instead connecting one of her arms and coming close to severing it. Her return strike knocked him off his feet, sending him crashing into a shrub. Luminous yellow-green blood welled up where a vicious swipe of her claws opened up three parallel wounds diagonally across his face, barely missing his eyes.

Half stunned, the young predator lay in the ruined foliage, the wound bleeding profusely and blurring his vision. He forced himself into a sitting position, raising a clawed hand to wipe the blood from his eyes before struggling to his feet. The alien queen had come very close to blinding the young predator in one eye. As it was, the wounds were deep and he would carry the scars for the rest of his life. Whether that life was to be measured in minutes or years was at that point hard to tell.


	20. Chapter 20

With General Rustadh occupied with the negotiations aboard the Endeavour, Ch'Tang's First Officer was in command. He and the majority of the other senior officers had remained on duty long after shift end and as time dragged on and their General did not return, the crew were growing edgy. It was standard policy for ships attached to Starbase 24 to keep an open comm channel while engaged on a mission but Kreltek had gone one step further. He had given the order for his own vessel's Ops officer to keep a constant sensor lock on Endeavour until his CO had safely returned from her mission. NOTHING was going to befall Khetara on his watch. NOTHING!

Seated at his console, Lt K'Vin listened idly to the chatter coming in over his earpiece via the link to Endeavour's Bridge. Over the last few hours, there had been little of interest, not even the usual good natured banter between two sets of bridge officers who knew each other well.

"Commander! Endeavour's atmosphere is venting... I'm picking up debris... humanoid life... no life-signs...!"

At the same moment as the Ops Officer yelled, K'Vin sat bolt upright, turning up the gain on his earpiece. "Something's wrong over there!" he reported, putting the audio on loudspeaker. _"Khetara to bridge... emergency...beam..."_

Kreltek reacted instantly. "Lock on, beam every bio sign in that section over here. NOW!"

The saboteur had done his work well. All had remained peaceful on Endeavour's bridge, no alarms had sounded to warn the crew of the desperate fight for life in Cargo Bay One. Khetara's emergency transmission and the sudden panic over the comm. link from Ch'Tang was their first clue that anything was wrong. Frantically, the engineering team brought up the bay camera feeds and status indicators in an attempt to find out what was happening and to stop it before any lives were lost.

Temporarily in command of the bridge while Colonel Speares was otherwise engaged, Endeavour's Romulan second officer leapt to her feet, what little Vulcan calm she had learned from her husband completely shattered by the severity of the crisis. "Qeytok" Rhiana yelled, "Get a force-field over that door. Sickbay, I want an emergency team down there STAT!"

Qeytok's angry voice snarled back at her over the speaker. "_Cargo bay force-fields are non-functional! Extending emergency bulkheads and attempting to repressurise!"_ The report was followed by torrent of _Thlingan hol_ expletives. The equipment was clearly not being cooperative.

_"Ch'Tang to Endeavour"_ Kreltek's voice broke in. "_We have rescued six survivors from your cargo bay and retrieved three bodies from the blow out debris"_

For a long time the bridge was quiet as the gathered crew processed the tragedy. Eventually the silence was broken by Rhiana. "I… We will send over a medical team to assist your surgeon" she offered awkwardly.

_"Acknowledged"_ Kreltek answered gruffly.

Passing the order down to sickbay, Rhiana hesitated before voicing the question she did not want to ask, but needed to know "General Rustadh and the Ambassadors... were they among the survivors?"

There was a moment of cold silence on the channel. _"As yet, I do not know"_ the Klingon confessed. Rhiana could hear the unspoken pain and even fear in his voice. Kreltek covered it well but he could not hide it from one who felt the same.

"Keep us informed, Ch'Tang" Rhiana requested, "We need…"

She was interrupted by Colonel Speares voice. Endeavour's temporary captain had made his way down to the cargo bay as soon as he had become aware of the situation. "_Bridge, the area is now secure and safe to enter. Qeytok has got the emergency hull breach field in place and repressurisation is complete. Medical teams going in now"_

__Tension on both bridges rose as the two crews waited quietly for more information. It was not long in coming but to the waiting officers, every moment seemed like an eternity. When the comm. channel opened again, the news was not good. "_We have four bodies"_ the medic reported. "_Three Terran males, one Klingon female... unidentifiable"_

"_Imirrhlhhse!"_ The expletive slipped out before Rhiana could stop herself. She did not often use such foul language but in this case, it did not even begin to do justice to her feelings. Nausea rose, her stomach churned, leaving her feeling as though that fabled monster of Rihannsu legend, the _aehallh'evha kreldani_ was eating her insides and she swallowed heavily, choking back the urge to retch. She was no stranger to death. Like most of Endeavour's senior officers she had come through the worst of the Dominion War and during the months she had spent as a prisoner of the Jem'Hadar she had seen far too many good men and women either killed by their captors or dead of their wounds or malnutrition. That had been during the war though. This was a time of peace and to lose seven crew members in a stupid accident was unacceptable. She still did not know if the Yautja ambassadors were among the casualties. If anything had happened to them, there would very likely be a war on their hands.

She stopped dead, a cold shiver running through her body and the urge to vomit intensified. Accident? If she'd learned anything about Starfleet it was that they were paranoid about health and safety. Every system had multiple redundancies and safety procedures built in. For the door mechanism to engage, the warning lights, klaxons, force-field AND emergency override to all fail at once and at a time when the transporters were known to be offline... That was no accident. It was she realised with mounting horror, a deliberate and cold blooded act of sabotage.

Tense and distrustful in the new environment in which they so suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves and ready to defend themselves should there be even the faintest hint of a threat, the two Predators stood protectively by Khetara's bio-bed. She remained in a deep coma, various life-sign monitors attached to her body and a mask covering her mouth and nose, delivering precious oxygen to her severely damaged lungs.

The Klingon General had been unconscious, hanging limply against Kihr'yende's body as they had materialised in Ch'Tang's sick bay, only the arm around her waist preventing her from collapsing on the hard metallic deck. The moment the beam released them, the huge predator bent and lifted her effortlessly into his arms, looking around him for someone to help her. Staff had instantly rushed to assist only to be warned off by Kihr'yende's instinctive snarl. Immediately realising they were not attacking, he checked himself, allowing them to guide him to a bio-bed where he laid her down and stepped back, allowing them to examine her.

As he kept watch over Khetara's motionless form, the Yautja Elder looked thoughtfully around the room, taking in the scene of controlled chaos as, working together as one team, the medical personnel of both ships carried out their triage procedures, sorting the injured and treating them according to priority and need. Their dedication and their desire to help were evident.

A menacing growl rumbled through Kihr'yende's body as a Bajoran nurse somewhat nervously approached them, a medical tricorder in one hand. He stepped protectively in front of his father. "We do not require medical assistance"

To the nurse's credit, she did not back down although the scent of fear increased. "Sir, you have been exposed to vacuum" she persisted, "You may have lung damage"

Despite his own disquiet, the Elder placed a calming hand on his son's arm, aware of Kihr'yende's simmering temper. "Our masks protect us" he told the young woman, his tone firm and authoritative, leaving no room for disagreement. "We are unharmed. You must look to your own. They need your help, we do not"

In truth, the Elder reflected, Kihr'yende had reason for his anger. That the 'accident' on the Federation ship had been a deliberate attempt on their lives was something he did not doubt in the slightest. Da'rian had been right to fear treachery. He bit back a sigh. He could not allow this cowardly attack to stop the treaty he had come here to negotiate. If the Yautja were to grow and develop as a people, they had to come to terms with their galactic neighbours. Day by day, year by year, the Federation and the Klingon Empire had expanded, coming ever closer to the territory the Yautja considered theirs. The Elders of the various clans had come together to discuss the situation and after a series of long, hotly debated meetings, had come to the conclusion that if their way of life was to continue, they had no choice but to change and adapt. His people were warriors. If it came to war, every last one of them would fight to the bitter end. The end in that situation would be bitter indeed, he knew. The peoples of the Federation seemed weak but their strength lay in sheer numbers and in their tenacity and ingenuity. Allied with the Klingon Empire, even the might of the Dominion had been unable to stand against them. Their combined strength would overwhelm the Yautja as a swarm of _tarei hsan_ overwhelmed rotting fruit... and the Klingons were not their only allies.

His ruminations were abruptly interrupted by a high pitched, mournful wail from the equipment attached to Khetara. The Klingon surgeon all but shoved the Elder aside in his haste to get to the stricken General. "She's in De-fib!" he yelled. That report was all the verbal command needed or given. In seconds, medics, drugs and equipment surrounded the bed and Khetara vanished from sight as they fought to save her life.


	21. Chapter 21

Quietly, almost silently the flaps of the egg began to curl back on themselves. Wary but curious, Cordero strained to see in the semi darkness, her desire to see what was inside tempered only by what she had seen a few minutes earlier in the passages leading to this cave.

"Move back" the Predator warned her and remembering the thing that had leapt at Murray's face, she obeyed. Satisfied that she was out of the way, the hunter focused on the egg, waiting patiently as it rocked again.

An ear-piercing screech broke the silence as an arachnoid creature leapt from the depths of the egg, the speed and suddenness of it catching everyone by surprise. The Hunter though was ready. His shoulder canon fired and the parasite instantly disintegrated into millions of minute particles that burned with such intensity that everyone in the cave saw the shadowy outline of a body seemingly carved into the wall.

Vaguely human in size and shape, the desiccated, mummified remains hung embedded in deep layers of resinous slime, mouth permanently open in a silent, agonised scream. The bones of the chest were all broken, splayed outwards as though something inside had brutally and forcefully pushed its way to freedom. The warrior who happened to be closest, a sturdily built Klingon named Urtok stepped backwards fighting not to retch as the Predator Commander's words echoed through his mind "_The best you can hope for is a quick death at the hands of a friend!"_ He was a warrior, he reminded himself sternly. He feared nothing. Nevertheless, he suspected the tortured figure would haunt his dreams for a long time to come. Shaken, he turned away. "Is it…?" He did not finish the sentence but the question was clear. Did the remains belong to their missing captain?

Outwardly serene, only the flicker of his eyes betraying his revulsion, S'ian examined the figure before shaking his head. "No!" He could not completely hide his relief as he continued, "There are no signs of Klingon or Terran DNA. I believe the remains to be those of a primate of some sort"

"Then our mission here is done" Da'rian said tensely, "It's time we got out of here and back to the shuttles"

So far all had been quiet. There had been no sign of the _Kainde Amedha_, nothing except the hatching eggs, not so much as a single drone. Da'rian did not trust this. It was too quiet, it did not feel right and it could not last. Warning his hunters to be extra vigilant, he gave the order to head out towards the landing site. For the Federation troops, the trip down the mountain side was only a little easier than the ascent, although once again, the Predators seemed to negotiate it with ease.

All remained quiet until they were a few hundred metres from their destination. A faint sound caught Da'rian's attention and he came to a halt, holding up a hand for silence. He listened carefully. "Weapons fire" he said tersely.

As he spoke, the comm. link crackled into life. "_We are under attack… repeat… under attack. Request backup"_

The team did not have time to react to the distress call. The ground beneath their feet was already vibrating, sending small stones and gravel skittering into the air. An unearthly shriek filled the ears of the Hunters and the startled marines before creatures, the likes of which they had never seen before but which seemed to have crawled out of their worst nightmares, were upon them and they were fighting for their lives.

Turning to defend one of the Ooman marines from attack, Rakai'in did not see the _Kainde Amedha_ drone coming up behind him until it was too late. Moving with incredible speed the drone lashed out with its claws and as the Yautja threw himself sideways to avoid them, the creature anticipated the movement and brought its tail up and over in a scorpion-like manoeuvre, its barb piercing the hunter's shoulder, impaling him and lifting him into the air.

Scrambling to his feet, the marine, a large South African named van Zyl, brought his phaser rifle to bear and fired into the creature's mouth at point blank range. With a screech of both agony and fury, the creature flung down the injured predator in a crumpled heap before turning at bay and lunging at the marine. Urtok moved to assist, lashing out with his bat'leth and burying its points in the creature's neck. Pulling the blade free, he struck again, swearing fluently as the concentrated acid that passed for the monster's blood began to dissolve his weapon. The sword had done its job though and as the marine opened fire again, the combined assault was too much for the creature and it toppled sideways, its shrieks fading into nothingness as it died.

The Afrikaner moved to assist the fallen hunter. "You okay?" he asked gruffly, holding a hand out to help him up. The hunter stared up at him for a moment before accepting the proffered hand and allowing the Ooman to pull him to his feet. His injuries were more serious than he was willing to admit and he staggered slightly, lurching to one side before regaining his balance. The barbed tail of the _Kainde Amedha_ had torn through the muscles, nerves and sinews in his shoulders and back. Luminous yellow-green blood covered his armour and his arm hung uselessly at his side. He could feel a bone grating in his hip and just standing upright was taking all his effort. There would be no more hunting for him today, he realised in distress, turning away, a sense of dishonour weighing heavily on his heart. He was a failure and alive only because beings he considered prey had saved him.

Da'rian seemed to sense his thoughts. "Rakai'in!" The severely wounded hunter turned his head enquiringly and the commander continued, "Your injuries were gained doing your duty. You _will_ hunt again"

Rakai'in slowly inclined his head in acceptance of his leader's wisdom. The Klingons and the Oomans might be prey but they had fought well and with courage. If Da'rian considered them honourable that was good enough for him. Seeing a drone, one of the few still alive and capable of fighting, come up behind the Klingon, he shouted a warning. Urtok turned in response and seeing the threat, let out a roar of defiance and tossing aside his half dissolved weapon, pulled out his d'k'tahg.

Despite his injuries, the Predator found himself chuckling at the honour and almost suicidal bravery the Klingon was displaying. A knife was useless against a _Kainde Amedha_ drone. Limping a few paces, he bent, carefully and painfully and with his uninjured arm he picked up the spear he had dropped as the creature had flung him into the air. He was still capable of wielding it, but unlike the warrior who had helped him, his ability to fight was compromised. The Klingon had lost his weapon saving his life and needed a weapon more than he did. Decision made, he acted on it immediately. Shouting to attract the Klingon's attention, he threw him the spear.

Urtok held up a hand, catching the weapon in mid air and with a nod of thanks, he returned to the battle. Fighting side by side with his Federation counterpart and wielding the Predator weapon as though he'd been using it all his life, something which did not go unnoticed by the Yautja hunter, the Klingon quickly brought the creature down and dispatched it.

Limping heavily and leaving a trail of blood behind him, Rakai'in moved to rejoin the others. He staggered slightly as the uneven ground exacerbated the pain of the broken bone in his hip, but an unexpected hand on his arm steadied him. The Klingon, he realised. Irritably, the hunter turned on him with a menacing growl. He might be injured but he was not helpless, he neither needed nor wanted assistance. To his surprise, the Klingon bared his teeth and growled back, completely un-intimidated and made no effort to let go. A presence made itself known on his other side and resignedly he turned his head to see the Ooman. Together, the three warriors made their way back the shuttles.

The Vulcan science officer watched them go, a thoughtful expression on his face. It seemed to him that, however unlikely it might seem, a friendship had been forged today and that he was witnessing the start of a relationship between the three races.

Da'rian was thinking something very similar. He glanced at the Vulcan standing nearby and following his gaze, correctly interpreted the other's thoughts. "Brothers in arms" he said "It is a beginning"


	22. Chapter 22

As the queen turned on the young predator, it was Kehlan's turn to act as decoy, screaming a challenge to distract the monster away from her injured friend and give him time to recover himself. Dashing across the clearing, she snatched up the discarded spear. Miraculously, it was still in one piece. Adjusting her grip on it, she stabbed at the queen but missed her target, the blade skittering sideways off the shiny black chitin.

The queen's screech turning to a malevolent hiss, she struck at the small, annoying thing that had the audacity to attack her. Kehlan flung herself to one side, rolling to avoid the teeth but was not quite quick enough. Sharp burning pain lanced through her as needle-like teeth sank into her unprotected shoulder. Shaking her prey like a jackal mastiff worrying a _boq-rat_ she raised her huge, misshapen head, lifting the Klingon woman into the air. Unable to hold back a cry of pain, Kehlan fought to free herself, shoving her uninjured arm into the creature's spittle filled maw and grabbing hold of the inner mouth, yanking on it and twisting with all her strength. Flinging her head sideways in an effort to dislodge her prey's grip, the queen did not see the Predator approaching.

George had guessed from the expression on his companion's face when she first saw the queen that she was shocked by its size. He had never seen one before but from what he had been taught, this one was on the small side of normal. She did not fight with the skill or cunning that he had been trained to expect and given that there should be no queen on this planet, he suspected she was very young and inexperienced. Obviously the drones had had more time to mature than the Elders had allowed for and one of them had undergone the hormonal shift to become a female.

He shook his head, wondering again how they had erred so badly. That was for later though. Right now he needed to focus. Their tactics were working. Confused by the joint attack, the juvenile queen no longer knew which of them to focus on, lunging from one to the other and back again. Right now she was not paying attention to him and he had a chance to take her down while she was concentrating on his friend. Had she been an adult, with all the experience, guile and intelligence of a mature xenomorph queen, it would have been too late, they would already be dead. The young predator allowed himself to consider the hope that they might actually live out the day.

Ignoring his own injuries, the hunter lunged forward, taking the spear from Kehlan's nerveless hand and driving its barbed point deep into the queen's gaping mouth. The improvised spear lodged itself in the back of her throat. She yowled and jerked in agony releasing her grip on Kehlan's shoulder and allowing her to fall to the floor.

George flared his mandibles in a silent battle scream as he leapt onto the creature's back, landing behind its crest plate. Gripping her exoskeleton with his toes he sought a fissure between the armour plates and raised his arm high before plunging his wristblades deep into the Queen's spinal column.

The queen's body convulsed, her tail whipping from side to side, lashing into the young hunter, the blow laying open his side and cracking at least one of his ribs. The force of the blow dislodged his precarious grip, sending him tumbling to the ground five metres below. He landed heavily, with a thud that knocked the breath out of him and sent pain lancing through his damaged ribs.

The mortally wounded queen clawed at him, thick white blood pumping from her wounds, but somehow Kehlan was there to protect him. Forcing herself to her feet and pulling him back out of the queen's reach, she shoved her sword into the dying creature's throat putting an end to its struggles.

The ground shuddered as the alien queen staggered, moaned and collapsed in a chitinous heap, her talons scrabbling futilely in the dirt. Her body twitched slightly and then stilled. It took several moments for either Kehlan or George to believe that the stillness was truly death.

Groaning, George pushed himself into a semi upright position. Kehlan sank to the ground at his side. She leaned on the predator and was surprised to find herself laughing in sheer relief. After a moment, a strange barking trilling sound came from George. It was over. They had done it! They were alive and the queen was dead. The trophy was theirs for the taking.

The moment of laughter over, the two sat quietly together for some time until Kehlan became aware of a heavy deadweight draped across her shoulder. With difficulty she managed to turn around. George had passed out, slumped between the rock he rested against and Kehlan's arm. He was bleeding heavily, she realised with some concern. Carefully she extricated herself from beneath his weight and laid him down flat.

Blood welled from his wounds, staining the ground a strange luminescent green. She needed to stop the bleeding, and quickly. Kehlan frowned. She had no medkit, nothing except the natural resources of the jungle. Disinfect the wounds and stop the bleeding. These were her priorities. She racked her brain, trying to remember her medical training. Some forms of acid could act as an effective, if painful disinfectant. She glanced at the dead queen. Acid she had to excess. She would have to treat her own wounds as well, she realised, grimacing at the thought. This was not going to be pleasant, but it was necessary. In this environment infection could be fatal.

Opening the water bottle, the Klingon considered how best to achieve her goal. After a moment's thought, she lifted the Yautja sword and very carefully, used it to scoop up some of the alien queen's acidic blood, allowing a few drops to drip into the water. Even given the level of dilution she was forced to turn her head to avoid inhaling the cloud of noxious steam that erupted. Helping herself to some large palm-like leaves from a nearby bush she moved back to the unconscious predator and knelt at his side. Muttering a quick prayer to Kahless and whatever gods cared to listen that her actions would help and not harm, she set to work, cleaning and binding his wounds. Her patient tensed slightly and mumbled something, but thankfully remained unconscious throughout the procedure. Finally she was finished and George seemed to be sleeping peacefully. It was her own turn now.

Gritting her teeth, she started to pour what was left of the diluted acid onto her injured shoulder. The pain was excruciating, almost worse than the original bite and she was unable to hold back a scream of agony. The sound echoed through the eerily silent forest. Her cry was cut off as blackness took her and she slid to the ground, landing across her friend's sleeping form.

When Kehlan woke, the moon was rising. She turned her head, cursing as the clearing spun crazily around her. She shook off the dizziness and forced herself to focus on her companion. He was still unconscious but his breathing seemed steady. There was no way she could get him up a tree, she knew. The best she could manage was to light a fire, keep them both warm. Getting the fire going was not easy but after a few attempts and a lot of swearing, she succeeded in her task. The flames leapt up, casting eerie shadows on the carcass of the Queen. She turned to look at the body. Some instinct told her that her predator friend would want to take the skull, that it had meaning to him. Better the trophy was taken before the carrion eaters arrived

She'd watched him do it twice, she had an idea of the procedure. Admittedly, this was slightly different but the principle remained the same. Hoping she wouldn't mess it up too badly, she got to work. Concentrating deeply it was some time before she felt the chill of someone silently watching.

She stilled. "George?" No, she realised immediately. It wasn't George. Her friend was still unconscious.

A low, rumbling growl sounded from somewhere behind her. It was not from one of the alien creatures, nor was it a carrion eater. It sounded more like… another Predator!


	23. Chapter 23

_"Endeavour, I am informed by sickbay that the Yautja ambassadors are unharmed. General Rustadh however is critically ill. She is currently in theatre undergoing emergency surgery"_ Kreltek's voice over the comm system was full of grief and cold anger as he continued _"The Klingon government holds you directly responsible for this"_

"Understood, Ch'Tang" Colonel Speares said. "Rest assured you will have our full cooperation. Our security teams are already beginning an investigation"

_"I want the traitors found and punished"_ the angry Klingon growled, _"Although whatever vengeance I may take will pale beside that of your own captain when she returns to learn that her own crew have betrayed her."_ The channel went silent as for the first time since the mission had begun, Kreltek cut the comm link between the two ships. For the time being, he had nothing left to say to the Federation.

Shaken by the tragedy in the cargo bay, the officers on the bridge of the Endeavour worked quietly. They knew Kreltek was right - Kehlan would go mad when she found out there were traitors on board her ship! How had it happened, Speares wondered? Looking round at Rhiana, Baker and some of the others, he knew they were all asking themselves the same thing.

Seated in Endeavour's command chair, Speares considered the situation. As he had assured Kreltek, a full investigation was underway. Like all Starfleet ships, Endeavour had an SCIS officer on board. The Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service was – and he mentally quoted the Starfleet handbook _'a semi autonomous division of Starfleet Security responsible for the investigation of criminal matters involving Starfleet personnel or their families or crimes occurring within Starfleet administered facilities.' _Which, he reflected, meant that special agent Zhiva th'Zarath was now in charge of the investigation.

The shrill tone of the comm channel cut rudely across the train of Speares' thoughts. _"Sickbay to bridge... we have an ID on the final body from the cargo bay"_

Speares tensed. "Go ahead, sickbay"

There was sympathy in the Holographic doctor's voice as he spoke, _"It's Commander Cortez"_

Miguel Cortez, Endeavour's head of security, a long time friend and colleague and now another victim of the unknown saboteur. Speares lowered his head in grief and anger. His fists clenched on the armrests of the seat. God help him he was going to find the person or persons responsible for this.

For want of something better to do, he began to look through the list of personnel involved in the altercation in Ten Forward. It was with some relief that he noted that none of them were on the senior command team; none of them were among the group, that select group that had served with Kehlan for so many years. In fact… He looked again, a little more closely. "Rhiana, come and have a look at this"

Moments later, the blonde haired Romulan woman was leaning over his shoulder, reading through the list. "They are all relatively new crewmembers" she said thoughtfully.

"I noticed!" Speares said, "With the exception of Rossi, none of them have been on board for more than three months. Have them checked out will you?"

Rhiana nodded, "Yes sir" She took the padd from him and started to return to her place on the bridge before turning back to face him. "Would you object, sir, if I used the Captain's ready room?" she requested, "The computer facilities there are more suited to what I need."

Go ahead" he told her. He had no problem with allowing her unsupervised access to Kehlan's office. He knew his captain trusted Rhiana and he himself had every confidence in her. Whilst they both knew that computer access was only part of what she required, Speares was also confident of Rhiana's discretion and was happy to allow her the privacy to do whatever was required. That the Romulan was more than capable of breaking into confidential files was something he chose to ignore. Besides, it was possible that she would need those files if she were to get to the bottom of this conspiracy.

Speares watched her as she crossed the bridge and disappeared into the ready room. Although she wore the uniform of a Lieutenant Commander in Starfleet, Rhiana still held the rank of Colonel in the Romulan Tal'Shiar. Since her recent marriage to a Vulcan, she was no longer in favour with Romulan High Command but thanks to her position as liaison to Starbase 24, she still had access to some highly classified data. If anyone could find a link between the names on the list it would be Rhiana.

It must have been an hour or so later that the doors to the ready room opened again and Rhiana stuck her head through. "Colonel Speares, have you got a moment?"

Immediately he was on his feet. What had she found, he wondered as he headed towards the ready room? From the look on her face it was obviously something of significance. Well, he reasoned, he was about to find out. As soon as the doors of the office had closed behind them, shutting out the curious bridge officers, she handed him the padd.

His eye roamed over the page, mentally picking out and discarding those personnel who had been innocently caught up when the mutinous rioting began in the mess hall. "What else but mutiny?" he growled to himself, spitting out the words as though the very syllables tasted rotten. To a single man, the names left were recent transfers and all of them had had their orders cut by Admiral Moore. The marine's forehead wrinkled into a deep frown. "There's no such thing as a true coincidence" he muttered to himself as his suspicions began to boil.

"Oh coincidences happen alright… but I don't trust them, especially not the big ones and if this is a coincidence, it's a very big one" She handed him another padd. "And that's not all. Take a look at this."

The padd contained the Starfleet records of one of the most recent crewmembers to have been transferred to the Endeavour, one Lieutenant JG Jonathon Price. His academy records were glowing, as were the reports from the captain of his previous ship. There was absolutely nothing to indicate that this young officer was anything but what he seemed, a bright young up-and-coming engineer, promoted to the Endeavour and assigned as junior engineering officer on the beta shift. The promotion and transfer had been signed off by Admiral Moore only three weeks previously.

Speares raised an eyebrow as he looked at Rhiana. Obviously he had been given this report for a reason but for the life of him he could see nothing wrong with it. This particular crewman had not been involved with the mutiny… or at least, Speares amended, he had not been caught.

She handed him a third padd. "This one is from the Tal'Shiar" she told him. He read the report from with mounting disbelief and anger. The Tal'Shiar were hated and feared by all who encountered them but no-one doubted their efficiency or accuracy. And according to this report, the man known as Lt JG Jonathon Price was wanted on charges of smuggling, piracy and murder by several world governments, the Klingons and Romulans amongst them.

"So, the Starfleet reports must be faked then" Speares said heavily.

"Indeed" Rhiana said, "And I do not believe it is possible that Admiral Moore could not have known of this."

Speares sighed. "We need outside help with this. Both Kehlan and Khetara are out of the picture and the Yautja won't negotiate with replacements. On top of that we have a saboteur and murderer on board and an admiral at Starfleet who's set us up to fail"

The door chimed and almost absently, Speares gave the order for it to open. It did so, sliding aside with a faint swish and Lieutenant Baker stepped into the room. "Colonel Speares, I thought you would want to know immediately" she said, "We have received a communication from the away team. They have found Captain Kehlan's combadge and are on their way back to the ship"


	24. Chapter 24

Slowly the surgeon lowered his tools shaking his head, "There is nothing more we can do" he said regretfully, "She is gone. Let the record show that General Khetara _epetai_ Rustadh crossed the River of Blood at…" He glanced at the time. "…18:32 hours. Cause of death – Multiple organ failure resulting from explosive decompression."

Kihr'yende frowned as he stared down at Khetara's body, his grim expression hidden by his mask. With a gesture that was surprisingly gentle for such a fierce hunter, he reached out and touched her face with a talon, caressing her cheek before letting his hand drop to his side.

A combination of grief and fury built in Kreltek as he stared disbelievingly at the lifeless body of his commanding officer. With a sudden violence that caught those around him by surprise, he raised a gauntleted fist and brought it crashing down on the nearest console, the force of the blow sending a large crack zigzagging through the supposedly unbreakable panel. Not satisfied with the result, he struck it again, harder this time, leaving a smear of violet blood across the shattered surface, then raised his head to the heavens and let out a powerful howl.

The cry to Sto-vo-kor was taken up by the other Klingons and after a moment the two Predators threw back their heads and added their own eerie howl.

As the room fell silent again, the surgeon pulled a sheet over Khetara's face before stepping back and turning to face Ch'Tang's executive officer. "Captain Kreltek, the ship and the mission are yours"

Although concerned for his injured hunter, Da'rian was in a good mood when he arrived back on board _Yeyinde_. The mission had gone well, far better in fact than he had expected. Not only had they completed their objectives successfully and had a satisfying encounter with the _Kainde Amedha_, but he had returned with all his team alive and only one serious injury. The discipline of the Ooman warriors had pleasantly surprised him and he had not failed to notice how well they had fought along side his own team. He'd been doubtful about his Elder's plans to negotiate with prey, had not understood the need. The Elder was right he decided. Times changed and this potential alliance just might turn out to be a good thing.

Snapping orders to his hunters to escort Rakai'in to the infirmary, Da'rian headed for the control room. He needed to report to the Elder. Once there, Da'rian wasted no time in establishing a subspace link to the Elder's personal comm. Succinctly he gave his report and requested further orders.

"I am on board the Klingon ship" the Elder informed Da'rian. "There have been some… developments. I require your presence here. You will prepare to be beamed across immediately"

"Beamed?" Da'rian knew of the Federation transporter technology but had never used it. The idea was both unnerving and intriguing. He was not sure if he wanted to actually experience it for himself. To say so however, would be to show cowardice and that was unacceptable to the hunter. Instead he bowed his head in acceptance of his leader's wishes, saying merely "As you wish, Honoured Elder"

As the beam coalesced and released him aboard the Klingon ship, Da'rian shook himself, mentally checking that all his body parts were in order. The Elder made a quizzical trilling sound. "It is a strange experience, Honoured One" the younger Predator explained. "But I cannot decry its efficiency. Such technology would be useful to us"

The Elder growled, reaching over and disengaging the translator in his gauntlet ensuring that their conversation would remain private. "I have used the transporter" he said ill temperedly. "We beamed here from the Federation ship"

Da'rian tensed, sensing his leader's bad mood. He glanced at Kihr'yende, wondering what he had done wrong. His mission had gone well, why was the Elder so angry?

Conscious of his own failures this day Kihr'yende did not immediately answer Da'rian's unspoken question. He had fought to save the Klingon general yet despite his best efforts, she was dead.

"These negotiations are ended" the Elder snarled. "There will be no treaty with the Federation"

Da'rian was shocked into silence. He shook his head in disbelief, not knowing what to say. "But..."

"You were right to fear treachery" Kihr'yende growled, his mood as bad as that of his father. "The Oomans cannot be trusted."

Da'rian looked from one to the other in confusion. "What has transpired?"

"We were attacked" Kihr'yende said bleakly "The cargo bay doors opened without shielding. The Oomans swear that is NOT supposed to happen! Had it not been for our masks, the saboteur would have succeeded in his attempt to murder us all! Seven of their own were killed outright!" Kihr'yende let out a low keen as he continued "We have just learned that Khetara died of her injuries"

Da'rian's eyes widened slightly. "You felt for her"

Kihr'yende snarled. One did not feel for prey.

Slightly intimidated, Da'rian shrugged and looked away. "They are... fragile creatures"

"Fragile or not" the Elder snapped, "They are dangerous. They are nothing more than _Pyode Amedha_. They have no honour and cannot be trusted"

Da'rian was silent for a moment as he remembered the events on the surface of the planet. The Ooman and Klingon warriors he had worked with had been both honourable and trustworthy. "With respect, Honoured Elder, I cannot agree." It was risky to argue with the Elder in this sort of mood, but he felt he had no choice but to state his case and hope the Elder would decide not kill him. "I believe you should reconsider. To pull out now would be a mistake"

In no mood for dissent, the Elder turned on his subordinate with an angry snarl. In response to the barely contained fury that was coursing through his veins, his muscles tensed in readiness for battle. Pulling himself to his full height, he flexed his wrists without even realising he was doing so, causing his blades in his gauntlets to snap into combat position. "You DARE challenge!" he roared.

Lowering his gaze so as not to provoke the Elder further, Da'rian displayed submission but nevertheless refused to back down. He was no coward but he would admit to a certain degree of unease when faced with the Elder's temper. "No Honoured One. I seek to understand. The Oomans fought side by side with our warriors, they showed both courage and honour. I believe you were right when you told me our people need this treaty. That need has not changed, nor should we allow a handful of cowardly dissenters to sway us from our course."

The last thing Kihr'yende wanted was to be reasonable but he had to admit that Da'rian had a point. "Khetara wanted this treaty" he said slowly, "To allow her death to stop it, makes her loss meaningless and gives the victory to the assassins."

Letting out a deep sigh, the Elder retracted his blades and turned away to stare out the nearby window. "You are ever the voice of reason, Da'rian. We will attempt to conclude the talks"


	25. Chapter 25

Warily, Kehlan looked up, turning her head. In the entrance to the clearing, stood a Yautja hunter, obviously much older and better armed than the one she had come to know as George. A mask with strange symbols marked on it covered his face and his tentacle-like hair hung well below his shoulders, decorated by ornate gold coloured rings. He was taller than George, his body lean and muscular. An energy weapon of some kind was mounted on his left shoulder, maybe some sort of phaser or disruptor, but looking like nothing so much as a small canon. In his hand, he held a vicious looking spear and she could see other weapons hanging from his belt. Obviously he knew and understood the dangers of this world and was well prepared for combat.

Behind him were several more of his kind, equally heavily armed. Moving with the assured confidence of seasoned warriors, they entered the clearing, spreading out and cutting off her escape route.

Laying down George's knife, Kehlan slowly and carefully rose to her feet, holding out her hands to show she held no weapons and was no threat to them. The big predator, obviously the leader of the group, stared at Kehlan for long moments. She held her ground, having long since learned from George that to show any sign of fear or nervousness would be a fatal mistake.

He took a step towards her, a low growl rumbling through his body. Never taking her eyes off him, Kehlan stepped back, instinctively moving to protect her unconscious friend. These were George's people, Kehlan knew, but that did not make them any less of a threat. She had no way of knowing if they meant any harm to him. Why had they left him to fight those creatures on his own? Had it been a trial of some sort? Or had they meant for him to die?

The newcomer's body tensed and his wristblades snapped out as he prepared to strike down the impudent Ooman thing who dared to stand between him and his goal. The faint, familiar whisper of metal on metal seeped into the consciousness of the injured youngster, calling him back to the waking world. The first sensation to return was pain and he let out a gravelly moan, the sound bringing one of the other warriors to his side instantly. Kehlan relaxed slightly at the sight, realising that the hunter seemed to have no threatening intentions... not to George anyway... it was only her who was in any danger. Baring her teeth at the huge predator in front of her, she let out a growl of her own and prepared to defend herself. She was unarmed but that did not make her an easy target.

A strident noise cut across the clearing, stopping the Predator in his tracks. George was struggling to his feet and he was vocal about... something. Kehlan could only watch as the young hunter crossed the clearing to stand by her side. His tone was respectful yet insistent as he spoke with the older Predator in his own language, his words incomprehensible to the Klingon woman, sounding like little more than a series of clicks and growls. After a few moments, the older warrior sheathed his blades and turned to inspect the net bags full of trophies.

George spoke again and it seemed to Kehlan that his growls had taken on a slightly nervous tone. A student waiting for the approval of a teacher? He gestured towards the remains of the alien queen and as he did so, for the first time he saw that the skull was almost completely removed from the corpse. Kehlan had not quite finished the job when she had been disturbed and it was not as neatly done as it might have been, but still it was a good effort. Looking down at Kehlan he cocked his head and let out an enquiring click. She nodded, smiled slightly and gestured with both hands towards him, hoping that it translated. She meant the trophy as a gift for him.

The predator leader stood watching the interaction between the two. Turning, he moved towards the body of the fallen alien queen and examined it carefully. Satisfied with what he saw, he bent and with a sharp gesture, broke off the tip of a claw, dipping it into the acidic blood of the creature and approaching the young Predator.

George stood proudly, not moving as the older Predator carved the same lightning bolt symbol that adorned their masks into the centre of his forehead above his eyes. There was a faint hissing sound as the acid etched the design into his reptilian skin, but other than a faint clenching of his fists, he gave no indication of pain.

The ritual marking complete, blood ran freely down George's face. He spread his arms and flared his mandible's wide in a roar of victorious challenge to the naked stars. No longer an insignificant Unblood, he had succeeded in the Hunt and had the trophies and the clan symbol to prove it. He was a Blooded Warrior!

And yet... he had not been alone in his journey. He glanced speculatively at his Klingon companion. She had saved his life more than once, as indeed, he had saved hers. They had fought together, side by side and the trophies were as much hers as they were his. And so was the right to the Blooding.

The young, newly Blooded hunter spoke urgently to the older Predator. He growled in negation, shaking his head, but George would not be silenced. His tone rose in agitation as the conversation continued. As the older Predator turned his attention on Kehlan she could only wonder what it was they were arguing about.

The Hunt Leader stared thoughtfully at the Ooman... if Ooman she truly was... he had never seen one who looked quite like this and he had hunted several in his time. The story the young hunter told was incredible, almost unbelievable. Yet he could sense only truth. By the rules of the Hunt, he had no choice. The Ooman was worthy and she must be Blooded. He pressed the alien claw into George's hand and grunted his permission.

His mandibles flaring in satisfaction at getting his way, George bent to renew the acid on the tip of the claw before approaching Kehlan. Sensing that she did not quite understand what he wanted to do, the young Predator touched the mark on his forehead and then gestured towards Kehlan with the claw.

Her eyes widened. He was offering her a great honour she realised. Some instinct told her that it was rare for an outsider to be marked in this way and that to refuse would be considered an insult. Taking a deep breath, she looked up, into those deep set amber eyes and nodded her acceptance.

He moved closer, until their bodies were almost touching and lowered his head, intently studying her face. Kehlan held herself very still, barely daring to breathe as, slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wished, her Yautja friend raised his hand to her forehead. He hesitated for a moment before drawing back slightly, realising that her cranial ridges would make it difficult to draw the design correctly.

Guessing at the problem, Kehlan reached up and brushed her hair back behind her ear, turning her head slightly to present her cheek.

George's mandibles twitched slightly in approval. "Yesss Good"

The newly Blooded predator was millimetres from touching Kehlan's face with the claw when the older Predator snapped a command. George jerked back, startled by the unexpected reprimand. The Hunt Leader's mandibles flared in amusement as he reminded George of his omission. The young hunter lowered his head, giving a grunt of embarrassment at the mistake he had almost made, a mistake that would have badly hurt his friend had the Leader not stopped him in time.

Kehlan frowned at the interruption wishing, not for the first time that she could understand the Yautja language, but the translator in her combadge was useless and the few words she and George had managed to learn of each other's languages were not sufficient.

One of the other hunters handed George a knife, highly ornate and seemingly ceremonial. He laid the point of the blade against his arm and cut with precision. Luminescent yellow-green blood, glowing eerily in the moonlight and the flickering flames of the fire, welled up from the wound. The young predator allowed it to drip onto the alien claw. As the substances mixed, the claw seemed to sizzle, almost to the point of starting to melt itself but the chemical reaction finally settled and the Leader nodded in approval. The Blooding could proceed.

Suddenly Kehlan understood. The alien blood was highly corrosive. Obviously something in Yautja blood was able to at least partly neutralise it, to prevent the acid from eating through the skin and into the skull. She bared her cheek again, being careful to push her hair well out of the way. Baldness was not a current fashion on Qo'noS.

With a growl of concentration, her young friend touched the claw to her face and began to trace out the symbol of his clan. For a few moments Kehlan bore the burning pain in silence, but inevitably she could not hold back the growl that erupted, albeit softly. She'd thought cleaning her wounds was painful but this was ten times worse. Just when she thought she would disgrace herself and cry out, the claw was lifted from her face. It was done. She was Blooded.

Much as George had done, she threw back her head and howled.


	26. Chapter 26

For two centuries, the diplomats of the Federation and its member worlds had created a great deal of noise about how peaceful their society was; how crime was virtually nonexistent and how all the allied races lived in harmony with one another. As beautiful a dream as that might seem, that was all it was; a dream. Four hundred years earlier, nation states on Earth had maintained federal militias and police forces whose job was to enforce the law and hunt down the guilty, hopefully bringing them to justice. At least one of these agencies had descendants within Starfleet. The name might have changed, but the remit of what had once been called Naval Criminal Investigative Service (and its counterpart the Judge Advocate General's office) remained the same.

Special agent Zhiva th'Zarath took pride in her position as 'agent afloat' aboard the USS Endeavour. Although the ship did not float, the historic term was traditional. Agent Th'Zarath... or Zhiva as she was more commonly known, since most people could not pronounce her family name... liked it.

The Andorian woman made her way down the corridors to the sealed off cargo bay that was now a designated crime scene. Unsealing the doors, she stepped onto the cargo platform, Out of habit, she checked her pockets for the presence of the kit she always carried with her, tugging down on her uniform jacket as she did so. Its dark fabric made a stark contrast against her pale, almost ghostly flesh. Zhiva's skin was not the vivid blue that was considered the norm for Andorians, rather it was a snow white, almost translucent colour, resembling the ice from which her people came. She was of the Aenar race and as far as she knew, the only one in Starfleet. It was rare for her kind to leave their homeworld, but she'd always been restless, always wanted to know what was out there. The nomadic life of a shipboard SCIS officer suited her perfectly.

She sighed, her antennae drooping slightly as she studied the padd in her hand. This was the most serious incident she had ever been called to investigate. The cargo bay around her still bore the indications of what had happened here. Multiple murder, sabotage, even mutiny. Her mind drifted back to her training. She couldn't recall anything similar ever happening on board a Starfleet vessel. Justice would be done, she resolved. She would find the killer or killers and ensure that they answered for their crimes.

Setting the padd into her pocket, she began to gather evidence, analysing and recording the scene. Eventually, her gaze turned to the main control console. The survivors had reported seeing General Rustadh trying and failing to operate it. What if... the saboteur had interfered directly with the main console? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. The door mechanism was tied into that console. Whoever disengaged the fail-safes had to have done so from here. Drawing out her forensic investigation kit, the Aenar woman got to work.

On hearing the initial reports of the away team, Kreltek had reluctantly and with some ill grace, agreed to come on board the Endeavour with the Yautja ambassadors to discuss their findings and to decide what to do about it. Still simmering with anger after the death of his commanding officer, he was nevertheless aware that with both Kehlan and Khetara out of the picture, their mission was in dire jeopardy.

Even though the briefing room was not filled to capacity, the sheer physical size and psychological presence of each of the Predator warriors made it feel overcrowded. The chairs were large and comfortable, more than sufficient for both Klingons and Humans. However as Speares looked around the room, it struck him that the Yautja, especially Kihr'yende who was easily the tallest of the three, seemed uncomfortable. The Predator captain's posture reminded Speares rather inappropriately of a father who had been forced to squeeze into a chair designed for an elementary schoolchild in order to attend a Parent/Teacher Conference.

Lying on display in the centre of the table was the corroded, dull piece of metal that had once been a Federation combadge. "You're certain it's Kehlan's?" Speares demanded as he stared at the fragments of gold that still clung to its outer casing.

"We have run a DNA analysis" the Vulcan scientist said gravely, "The results confirm that the badge belonged to Captain Kehlan. Our tests also show that the combadge has been there for approximately 800 years"

Kreltek grunted. "Then we must go back in time to retrieve her. The question is how?"

Vixis let out a growl of frustration as she considered the problem. "What about the slingshot effect? It worked for Kirk"

"The slingshot effect is dangerous and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed" S'ian said "It should be used only as a last resort. We could possibly use the temporal eddy to reach Captain Kehlan. There is however a very real risk that doing so would simply strand the rescue team in the past, which would be counterproductive." He looked thoughtfully at the Predators. "Have your own scientists ever found any way of reversing the eddies?"

"We have never tried" The Elder answered honestly. "It is not something we have ever needed to attempt"

"Come on people... there's got to be any number of ways we can do this" Speares sighed in frustration. "Why do we have a Department of Temporal Investigations if that's not the case?"

"If you have such a department" the Elder enquired, "Would they not be willing to assist you?"

"They would do everything in their power to stop us" Rhiana snorted. "Whatever we do it will have to be secret" she tailed off, looking thoughtful.

Speares gave her a hard stare. He'd known the Romulan woman a long time and he knew when she was plotting something. "What are you thinking?" he asked suspiciously.

"We need a method that the DTI are unaware of" she explained. "I think you should ask Security Captain Krang for his input"

A smile crept across the Welshman's face. "Of course!" He shook his head, wondering why he hadn't thought of that himself. It was the obvious answer.

"Explain" demanded Kir'yende. "Who is this Krang?" He growled the unfamiliar name. "And how can he assist us?"

"This information is classified" Speares warned, "It must remain secret." He glanced around the room, awaiting their agreement before continuing.

"It will be as you wish" the Elder agreed. The two younger Predators bowed their heads in acquiescence to their Elder's wishes.

Kreltek also nodded, "Provided there is no threat to the Empire, I too will keep the secret"

"Anyone who isn't willing to remain silent may leave, now." Nobody moved and after a moment, Speares nodded in satisfaction. "Secure the doors please, Rhiana" he ordered. The Romulan woman obeyed silently and satisfied that all was secure he leaned into the centre of the table, instinctively lowering his voice as he began to explain.

A stunned silence answered him. A prototype time-ship in fully working condition? It was unbelievable. Such a thing did not seem possible, yet if it truly existed and worked as Speares claimed, provided they could gain access to it, it would be a very convenient solution to their problem.

"_G'dayt_ Imperial Intelligence" Kreltek almost laughed, shaking his head in both amusement and disgust. There was no love lost between Klingon Imperial Intelligence and the Defence Force. They were hated, even feared by ordinary Klingons, yet their ruthless efficiency could not be doubted.

The Elder growled slightly as he considered the information. "And this... Krang... He will assist you?"

Speares nodded. On this one point at least, he could be sure. "He is the head of Kehlan's House. He will help us"

"Then you should contact him immediately"

Speares got to his feet. "I will do so at once." Giving a respectful nod to the Yautja, he strode through the connecting door to the ready room, wordlessly dismissing the meeting. Activating the emergency subspace channel, Colonel Speares patched in a tight beam secure transmission to Starbase 24, attention of FedKIN. Then he leaned back in the seat and crossed his fingers, waiting for it to connect.


	27. Chapter 27

The viewscreen blanked and flickered. Speares shifted slightly in the Captain's desk chair. He fidgeted, wondering if the cushion was filled with rocks, for the brief moment that the Starbase logo was onscreen. As the call was processed, the image changed again to show the logo of FedKIN, or the Federation/Klingon Intelligence Network as it was more properly known. As its name suggested, the organisation had been designed to liaise between the Klingon and Federation Intelligence agencies. The screen blanked a second time before clearing to reveal the face of Krang _epetai _Inigan, an ex-Imperial Intelligence Officer who still held the rank of Security Captain and who now ran the organisation.

"This is Colonel Speares in command of the Endeavour" the marine introduced himself. On one hand, it was stating the obvious. He and Krang had drunk together often enough. In fact, they had known each other for years and had fought side by side in the Dominion War. But the statement alone would inform the Klingon that Kehlan was no longer in command of her ship and that something was seriously wrong.

_"Colonel Speares"_ Krang acknowledged the greeting, _"Nuq neH?"_

"We need your help" Speares said bluntly, "And we need you right now." The message was cryptic but necessarily so. The fact that Krang _epetai _Inigan had in his possession a vessel with a functional time dilator, was highly classified. Night Dagger's capabilities were not something to be discussed over subspace, even on a secure channel.

The Klingon frowned. _"Is it that urgent?"_ At Speares' nod of confirmation, he continued_, "Very well, I am on my way"_

Speares had no sooner cut the call when a shrill whistle intruded on the momentary silence. The voice that followed was that of Lieutenant Baker on the bridge and she sounded more than a little surprised. _"Colonel, Night Dagger has just decloaked off our port bow. We are being hailed."_

"Patch it through on a secure channel." Once again the image of the big Klingon appeared on the screen of the desktop comm unit. Speares grinned at the Security captain, "Took your time didn't you? What kept you?"

The Klingon glanced down at the time displayed on his console_ "One minute twenty two seconds"_ he pointed out with an amused growl, _"I did not want to get here BEFORE you called me_." In actual fact, he had been travelling for several days.

"Night Dagger is useful" Speares acknowledged wryly. "I suggest you dock with us rather than using the transporter at this time. ShuttleBay One is clear. Come onboard and I'll explain the situation"

The bird of prey was just small enough to fit inside Endeavour's largest shuttle bay, although it was a tight squeeze and there was no room for anything else around her. It took five tractor beams to manoeuvre Night Dagger into the hanger. Settling right in the centre of the bay, its wings almost scraping the bulkheads, the tiny ship disengaged its engines and extended its landing ramp. Up on the control deck, Speares waited impatiently for the green light. When it came he had to force himself not to take the stairs three at a time as he made his way down to meet his friend.

The hatch opened and a tall, imposing figure, dressed in the forbidding black uniform of Klingon Imperial Intelligence stepped onto the ramp. It was not his height, or even his uniform, but something in his bearing and demeanour that warned all who saw him that Krang held high rank, that this was a man not to be messed with. There were few who dared talk back to the Security Captain.

Speares frowned as a second figure appeared at the Klingon's back. Though she was dressed in the standard fleet uniform, the long copper curls braided with Romulan Storm Bird feathers and tattoos on her face were distinctly non-regulation. Seeing the Welshman's eyes flicker past him and settling almost disapprovingly on the Romulan woman, Krang bit back a grin. "You haven't met my new assistant, have you, Speares?"

"I... don't believe so" he responded tightly. He'd heard about her of course. Rumours about the Romulan mercenary brought in as Krang's assistant, had been flying around the starbase and the fleet, but he had not yet met her in person. From what he'd heard she was an old friend of his captain. He frowned at that. Kehlan was generally a fairly good judge of character but even so, he'd always thought she trusted too easily. Typically Klingon, Kehlan tended to forget that not everyone shared her sense of honour. Well, he decided, he'd give the woman a fair chance.

The Klingon beckoned for his aide to come forward. "This is N'Sal" He turned to the Romulan woman. "N'Sal, this is Lieutenant Colonel Philip Speares, Kehlan's first officer"

She eyed him carefully for several uncomfortable seconds then inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement. "Colonel"

His own nod was equally stiff.

"Has there been any sign of her?" she asked curtly.

Speares shook his head. "Of Kehlan herself, no. We have found her combadge however and believe we know where to find her." He frowned as he continued, "If you'll join me in the ready room I'll explain the problem"

Krang fell into step with Colonel Speares as they left the hanger, with N'Sal close behind. As soon as the doors of Kehlan's ready room had closed behind them, Speares turned to his guests. "You already know that Kehlan is missing" he said bluntly. "The truth is, she fell foul of a temporal distortion while beaming and we believe she is stranded approximately 800 years in the past"

"You have managed to date the corrosion on her comm badge?" Krang guessed. "Were any remains recovered?"

Speares sighed. "No. Which means, either we managed to rescue her, or... " He remembered the reports from the away team and shuddered slightly, "Or the wildlife down there got her. Bad as it is though, Kehlan's disappearance is not the worst of our troubles"

"Go on" Krang gestured, leaning forward intently.

"After she vanished" Speares said, "The Yautja refused to negotiate with a replacement." He continued, telling the Klingon intelligence agent everything he knew and ending with the latest, devastating news of Khetara's death.

Krang clenched his fists and threw back his head howling instinctively at the news. He had known Khetara well.

Speares was more than slightly surprised to see the Security Captain's aide flinch at the sound. He dismissed it. She was little more than a pirate after all, no doubt she had come up against Klingons in her undoubtedly murky past. Again he found himself wondering how and why a mercenary like her had ended up working for Starfleet, let alone in such a sensitive role?

Silence fell again but out of respect for Klingon tradition, Speares waited a moment before continuing. "The question facing us now" he said, "is how to get her back before the Yautja decide to cut off relations altogether"


	28. Chapter 28

The Klingon Security Captain considered the information that Speares had given him. In his position he could not help but be aware of the precarious state of interstellar politics. Neither the Federation nor the Klingon Empire wanted or could afford to find themselves in armed conflict with the Yautja. He suspected that they did not truly want war either. Why else would they have asked for negotiations if not to make a peace of some kind? The Klingon sighed and scratched his crest. And if they wanted peace, why had they become obstructive when Kehlan disappeared? The investigator in him stirred, sensing a mystery to be solved. First things first though.

"Our first priority is to retrieve captain Kehlan" Krang decided. "Once that is done I will be glad to offer SCIS our assistance with their investigations. Meanwhile I will need the combadge and all the data you have from your analysis if we are to pin down an exact temporal destination." He frowned as he continued "However Night Dagger's design means that remote interface with the temporal computers is impossible. We must perform the analysis aboard her"

"Anything you need" Speares nodded at once. He would gladly do whatever it took to get Captain Kehlan safely back on board Endeavour where she belonged.

"Good" Krang said, "As soon as Night Dagger's computers have confirmed the data we will set a course."

Speares considered for a moment. "I'll meet you back at Night Dagger with the badge then."

The Security Captain nodded curtly. "I will begin calculating the parameters"

Colonel Speares accessed Kehlan's computer and entered a few commands. "I've made a note in the ship's log that you are both to be given full access to all areas of the ship"

"It is appreciated" Krang nodded.

"It will allow you to move about the ship unescorted" Speares explained.

"Let's get my friend back first and then worry about who wants to go where" N'Sal remarked, though she did incline her head slightly. Speares chose to take that as a gesture of thanks. He had often seen Rhiana do similar. "We have work to do"

As Krang and his aide left to return to the shuttle bay, Speares headed back to the briefing room to collect the combadge and to update the ambassadors on the situation. Entering the room, he was hardly surprised to find that the three Yautja were still there, although they were no longer seated. Rhiana and Kreltek were also present accompanying them, the two science officers having been dismissed back to their duties. Offering a smile, he approached them.

The Elder looked enquiringly at Speares. The baring of teeth meant pleasure in this species, he reminded himself. The Ooman was not intentionally offering challenge. He could not quite figure out how such an obviously aggressive facial expression had come to mean the exact opposite in their culture. "There is progress?"

"There is" Speares nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Security Captain Krang and his aide have come aboard. They are prepared... eager... to attempt retrieval"

A low growl rumbled through the Elder's body. "They will succeed"

"If that is to be certain, I need to bring the combadge and all the data we have to Krang"

The growl seemed to deepen. "Then do so. We will wait here"

The Colonel nodded and picked up the case containing the ancient artefact together with the pile of padds of data. "I'll keep you informed Ambassador"

The old Predator's nod seemed to dismiss him.

_"Qapla'_ Speares" Kreltek growled as the doors parted to allow the human's egress. Speares returned the nod and vanished in the direction of the turbolift. Luck was in his favour and the turbolift was both available and empty. Minutes later he was approaching Night Dagger's hatch.

N'Sal was watching the sensor feeds while Krang set the calculation parameters on the computer. At Speares' approach she released the hatch lockouts. The access ramp descended to meet him and sealed up the moment he was aboard.

It did not take long for Night Dagger's temporal computers to run the analysis and confirm the exact age of the combadge. "812 years, three months, one week, fourteen hours by the standard calendar" Krang announced to the two waiting behind him. "Your science officers were correct it seems, Colonel"

You're sure the computers are accurate?"

"These computers are the most finely tuned chronometric units in the three empires" Krang explained. "There is less than a 0.1% margin of error. Much slimmer than Endeavour's systems"

Speares relaxed slightly. Krang knew what he was talking about. If anyone could pull this off, he could. "Then go and get her, Krang. Bring her back safe"

"I intend to" Krang said. He glanced at his Romulan aide. "Ready for another time jump?"

She looked pale for a moment. He couldn't blame her. The time dilation could be rough, perhaps even frightening to someone who was not accustomed to it. Preparing to leave, Speares hesitated at the hatch and gave her a wicked grin. "You can stay here if you're space sick. I'm sure Rhiana would love to chat to you".

N'Sal scowled darkly. To say that she was not fond of the Tal'Shiar would be an understatement of colossal proportions. "I'm ready" she insisted resolutely, her eyes shooting daggers at Speares' back as he made good his escape.

"It will be worse than the jump to get here" Krang warned her, "The bigger the time interval, the more the ship will shake. It's going to feel like it's tearing itself apart. Don't worry, it won't"

"If it does... you'll die first..." At Krang's raised eyebrow she elaborated. "The Bird of Prey... even a miniature one... has structural weaknesses that are... quite predictable"

He grinned. "Let's get going"

Krang and N'Sal strapped themselves firmly into their seats. Bringing the engines on line, the Klingon transmitted a departure request to the bridge and waited for the shuttle bay doors to open. It seemed to take forever but finally open space was clear before them and the tractor beams carefully manoeuvred the private vessel out into the larger starship's wake.

As soon as the beams had released the vessel, Krang laid in a course taking them out of the solar system. In order to engage the time dilator, he first had to bring Night Dagger up to maximum speed. Satisfied that all was as it should be, he glanced at N'Sal, asking "Ready?" At her tense nod, he leaned over and activated the device. The shaking threw them both back in their seats. Krang was used to this and maintained his watch on the readouts. The vibrations increased to a point where it seemed the little vessel truly could take no more and must surely destroy itself.

Night Dagger bucked like a wild horse one final time then all was still and peaceful. Out of habit Krang ran a practised eye across the readouts. All indicators were steady in the nominal range. They were coming out of the temporal stream. The Klingon disengaged the time dilator and reset course towards orbit of the planet. His tiny Bird of Prey nosed through the last of the eddying time currents to re-enter normal space with barely a hint of turbulence.


	29. Chapter 29

Apart from a shuttle in orbit above the planet, Night Dagger's scans were picking up no signs of any ships in the area. The Klingon had no doubt however that one was close by, hidden by its cloaking device. Opening a channel he sent out a broad spectrum signal on all frequencies.

"Yautja ship, this is the Klingon vessel Night Dagger. We are here on a peaceful mission to retrieve a lost crew member. We intend no violation of your hunting grounds and will remain in your space no longer than is necessary to achieve our goal. We await your permission to continue"

After long moments of silence, the comm channel crackled slightly and a single word came back _"Proceed"_

It had been a long, hard hike back through the jungle. Kehlan had thought George a harsh taskmaster, but he was nothing compared to his elders and rank superiors. She'd long since guessed that she was holding George back, that he would be able to move a lot faster without her. What she hadn't realised was just how much she had slowed him down. George was carrying all their trophies and gear but even unencumbered by nothing more than the makeshift spear she had chosen to keep, she was struggling to keep up. In her haste and exhaustion, she did not pay full attention to the ground and did not see the exposed tree root until it was too late.

Bizarrely, the mud in which she landed face first was cool and soothing against her aching muscles, but she wasn't able to enjoy it for long before the senior Yautja was at her side, pulling her to her feet with a vocal tic that sounded suspiciously scolding. Suppressing a growl that she knew would get her into trouble, she struggled to her feet, wiping the mud from her face and started to walk again. The familiar trilling sound she had come to equate with laughter echoed from the Predators surrounding her as they picked up the pace again. This time however, George held back and walked beside his friend. She offered him a grateful smile and kept on moving.

The sun began to set and the group showed no sign of reducing its pace. When Kehlan stumbled again, unable to see in the darkness, one of the warriors simply picked her up and carried her. Kehlan must have slipped into a doze at some point because the next thing she was aware of was being set down in a large open space. Above them a small atmospheric craft was descending carefully through the canopy, coming to rest in the clearing. George touched her arm lightly and pointed. "Georrrge... sssheeep"

Kehlan understood clearly. The Yautja had sent a rescue shuttle. The hatch of the Yautja shuttle swung open and a tall figure appeared. Staring curiously at the stranger in the midst of his fellow hunters, he growled a question.

It was evident to the Klingon woman that this Yautja was in charge. If the other hunters were older than George, this one was older again and something about his bearing and the tone of his voice indicated authority. Was he the Elder she had come to negotiate with? She dismissed that possibility immediately. She had been stuck on this planet for several days. By now her ship and no doubt the Yautja ship she had come to meet would know that she was missing and would… she hoped… be looking for her, although George's words _"Ooman no ship_" still worried her. Whoever this Predator might be though, he had obviously not been expecting to encounter her and was wondering who and what she was.

The hunt leader answered him, his gestures making it clear to Kehlan that he was talking about her, explaining the situation to his superior.

The old one shook his head in refusal, the action sending those long, iron grey braids swinging around his face. _"H'ko!"_ Her own people were coming for her. She could not go with them. Barking a sharp command for the warriors to follow, he disappeared back inside the vessel.

One by one the Predators entered the shuttle until only George was left. The two friends stood staring at each other, neither knowing what to say, even if the other could have understood their words. Over the last few days they had been through so much together, had fought side by side, had saved each others lives too many times to count.

George placed a large hand on her uninjured shoulder and shook it slightly, growling with frustration as he tried to piece together the words he needed to communicate with his friend. "Ooman…" He stopped and started again. She'd told him more than once that she was not Ooman. "Kling-on sssheeep good." He gestured towards the sky, "Kay-lan ssheeep good."

She looked up, her gaze following the pointing finger. A tiny speck was just visible in the moonlit sky, descending rapidly through the atmosphere, coming closer and closer until she could just make out the shape of a small but perfectly proportioned Bird-of-Prey, its wings swept back as it prepared for landing. Night Dagger! She knew that ship. The cavalry had arrived at last. But what in the name of Kahless was Krang doing here?

She bared her teeth at George in a way he had learned she meant not as aggression but as a friendly gesture. "Goodbye my friend" she said softly, "I will see you again soon" He would not understand her words but it didn't matter, she thought confidently. Finding George again would not be difficult. If these Yautja were not among those she had come here to meet, still the Ambassador would be able to identify them or be able to find out who they were. Any parting would not be for long.

e would not understand her words, but it ditn

He stepped back, releasing his grip on her. It was time for him to go. "Frriennd." He said the word carefully, pronouncing it as best he could before turning away from her and moving towards the shuttle. Reaching the entrance he stopped and turned back momentarily to look at her. "_n'dhi-ja Mei-jadhi_" Goodbye sister… There was nothing more to be said. He had thought for a while that she would be returning with him. She was Blooded and the Yautja would not abandon her to certain death on this planet. But it was not to be. Her own people were coming for her. It was for the best he knew. She was of a prey species and even one such as Kay-lan would not live easily among his people. Wondering if he would ever see his friend again and at the same time hoping he would not, - for if he were to visit her home planet, it would be to hunt – he entered the shuttle and allowed the hatch to close behind him.

Standing at the edge of the clearing, Kehlan watched, keeping well out of the way as the arrow-like Yautja shuttle revved its engines, its powerful anti-grav boosters kicking dust, leaves and small stones into the air. Distortions from the engines made it difficult to see. Nevertheless she did not take her eyes off the shuttle as it rose gracefully into the air.

As its lights vanished into the night sky, she felt the ground rumbling. Turning, she saw perhaps the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time. Night Dagger's access ramp was extending and a slight figure was moving down. "Pasty Head... What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Kehlan was too relieved to respond to the familiar insult. Tiredly she moved towards her old friend. "N'Sal, it's good to see you"

"Come on..." The half Human half Romulan mercenary put a supportive arm around Kehlan and all but lifted her on to the boarding ramp. "Let's get you home"

Hissing discontentedly, the _Kainde Amedha_ drone stood over the carcase of its fallen queen. The hive needed a new queen. Without one, the colony would fail and die. Deep within the drone's body, hormones were shifting, changing, transforming it into something new.

Something bright flashed in the moonlight and curiously the drone bent to investigate. A shiny, oddly shaped piece of metal lay partly hidden in the ruined foliage under the dead queen's outstretched hand. The creature that was no longer drone but not yet a queen, studied the object. The newly awakening intelligence dawning in its mind telling it that the shiny thing had significance, it reached out and lifted it with a long spindly claw. Turning, it lifted its long scorpion like tail over its back and began to lope back into the foothills, still clutching its shiny treasure**.**


	30. Chapter 30

N'Sal guided her friend into the largest of the cabins aboard Night Dagger and sat her down on the bunk before touching her wrist comm. Typically rebellious, she'd refused point blank to use a Starfleet combadge and instead had tied the communications system into the jewelled bracelet she wore. Since she was technically a civilian she'd got away with it so far. "I have her. We're in the cabin. She's injured"

She could almost hear the frown in Krang's voice. _"How badly? Is she fit to travel?"_

A little first aid and she'll be fine until we get her back to Endeavour." As she spoke, the Romulan was digging out an emergency medical kit and rooting through it, looking for the equipment she needed.

"I'm okay." Kehlan's voice was slurred with pain and tiredness. The forced march through the jungle, even if she had been carried part of the way, had used the last of her strength. Now that her ordeal was over, the adrenalin was fading and exhaustion was setting in.

"And I'm a Bolian Stripper...Now lie down"

Kehlan almost snickered at that. Obediently she allowed N'Sal to push her back onto the bed. Her friend got to work quickly, injecting rehydration solution and treatment for shock along with painkillers before carefully peeling off the ruined vest top to examine her injuries. The Klingon woman had done a good job cleaning of cleaning them and the smaller wounds were already starting to heal. Kehlan winced but managed to avoid crying out as the blood coated fabric came away from the wound on her shoulder, tearing it open again.

_"Imirrhlhhse!"_ Sal swore, grabbing a pressure dressing as blood began to flow freely, viscous lavender fluid pumping out with every heartbeat and coating the Romulan's hands, making them slick and difficult to use with any dexterity. It took three of the emergency dressings before she felt the injury was adequately bound. The bite on Kehlan's shoulder was the worst and the most recent of her wounds. Other, less serious injuries were visible but they were older and starting to heal of their own accord. N'Sal decided to leave those and just cleaned the worst ones as best she could.

She had almost finished when Krang's voice came over the ship's intercom. "Go ahead" Sally answered softly, trying not to disturb Kehlan who, thanks to a combination of a real bed with a comfortable mattress and effective pain relief, had slipped into a doze that was actually not far removed from unconsciousness.

_"We need to get back to Endeavour_" Krang said, _"I need you both strapped in safely for the time jump."_

Kehlan's eyes snapped open and she struggled to sit up. "Time jump? Where is my ship?"

"Lie down!" the Romulan insisted, pushing her back. "Your ship's fine"

Kehlan struggled against her, "Where is my ship?" she repeated frantically, a note of panic entering her voice.

"Krang... little help... Kehlan, lie down or I'll end up hurting you!"

_"On my way."_ Night Dagger was tiny and it took Krang only a moment to reach the main cabin from the bridge area. Sally was only able to hold Kehlan in place, if she tried to push her back or even if she let go, the injured woman would hurt herself. Seeing the problem, Krang moved to assist her.

"Be still Kehlan." The Klingon's voice was calm and reassuring. "Your ship is safe"

Kehlan's head turned wildly in his direction. "Why are you even here, Krang?" she asked him, "What did you mean, time jump? Where... When... are we?"

"It seems..." the big Klingon began carefully "that your transport beam intersected a temporal fissure. You were thrown eight hundred years back in time before you rematerialised"

"Eight hundred years? But..." Kehlan fell silent. With that knowledge, George's words 'Ooman no ship' suddenly made sense. Endeavour had not been in this system eight hundred years ago. In fact, at that point in their history, neither the Klingons nor the Humans had even had space travel. However much sense it made though the news was devastating. George was gone. He would live out his life in his own time and she would never see him again. They had been through so much together, had fought together, saved each others lives and the intensity of the experience had bonded them. A tear slid down Kehlan's cheek. She'd expected to catch up with him on board ship. That would not happen. She would never see her friend again.

"Hey..." N'Sal leaned closer in concern. "The ship's fine, we'll be back in a few minutes"

Another tear followed the first one and uncharacteristically, Kehlan made no effort to wipe it away. She hated to let anyone see her cry, had always been ashamed of the ability to weep that came from her Terran blood. From a very young age she had been taught that tears were a sign of weakness, but she had lost someone she cared for and she felt no shame in crying for a friend.

"Keh..." the Romulan was distressed. "What's wrong?"

"I...I was not alone in the jungle" Kehlan confessed. "I met one of the Yautja"

"One of their ships passed us in orbit... He must have been picked up. I'm sure he's... oh..."

Seeing that N'Sal understood, Kehlan said nothing more but the tears continued to slide down her cheeks.

The Romulan woman glared at Krang, silently asking him to give Kehlan some privacy.

The big Klingon sighed. "I will wait on the bridge." Relieved to have escaped so lightly, he retreated, wondering if he would ever understand women.

Carefully Sal drew her friend into her arms and held her tightly, somehow managing to fasten the bunk harness about them both. "Bridge... we're strapped in... let's get out of here..."

Even as Krang's voice acknowledged, Kehlan spoke again, "He was young, Sally, just a kid really. But he saved my life… more than once... We became friends… and… and when we get back to our own time he will have been dead for years"

There was nothing N'Sal could do but nod sympathetically. "Hang on, my friend; it's going to get bumpy"

She was not exaggerating. If anything the journey forwards in time was even worse than the one they had just endured "Elements! I really hate this part!"

The shaking increased until it was almost unbearable and Sal could have sworn she heard the structural supports groaning under the pressure. Time seemed to slow down and distort as the shaking faded away. Finally all was still and Kehlan stirred in her arms. "Few more minutes" Sal promised "And we'll be back on Endeavour"

On the bridge, Krang was checking the readouts. All was as it should be, but even so he held his breath as he initiated a scan. Time travel was always dangerous. No matter how much care was taken, there was a huge risk that even the smallest action could change things irrevocably. The stellar alignments seemed correct as did the three waiting starships "Night Dagger to Endeavour"

_"Go ahead, Night Dagger"_

Recognising the voice of Endeavour's had of communications, Krang relaxed. "Mission successful" he reported, "I have Kehlan on board. I suggest you have a medical team standing by. She is alive but injured"

_"Acknowledged, Security Captain. Main Bay is clear for you"_


	31. Chapter 31

Manipulating the controls, Krang dropped to one quarter impulse, slowing the ship further as he approached the docking bay doors. In a moment, the automated tractor beams would lock on and bring his little ship safely in to land. There was just the lightest of jolts as Endeavour took control of his vessel. As the tiny ship was brought into Endeavour's largest shuttle bay, not only Speares and the Medics were present but also the Yautja and a contingent of security guards. In the light of earlier events, no-one was taking any chances. The humans were tense with a combination of concern and anticipation. Only the Elder seemed to be relaxed as the ramp came down.

Night Dagger's hatch slid open and Krang stepped out. It was the first time he had actually seen the Yautja and he eyed them with interest, noting from their size and physique as well as their bearing, that these were obviously warriors. He would be intrigued to speak with them at some point, but for now his concern was for his passenger. He stepped off the bottom of the ramp and turned around, intending to assist his aide who was carefully supporting Kehlan as she walked with difficulty down the steep incline.

Growling under his breath with a sudden tension that had not been evident a moment ago, the Predator Elder took a step forward. N'Sal's head snapped around. Somehow she managed to push Kehlan behind her as her vicious double bladed Reman knife came halfway out of its sheath in response to the perceived threat.

"Sal, no!" Kehlan's voice was quiet but firm with just a hint of urgency. "Put your knife away!"

The Romulan hesitated, not taking her eyes off the enormous being whose growling approach towards her friend seemed so hostile.

"Sal please!" The urgency in Kehlan's voice intensified, "Put it away!" To draw a weapon on a Yautja was nothing short of suicide. Not that N'Sal knew that, nor would she care if she did. The Romulan was just crazy enough to tackle anyone who threatened her friend, no matter what it ended up costing her and Kehlan did not want to see her friend dead.

"I won't let him hurt you..." N'Sal hissed protectively. Kehlan might be a Klingon warrior and under normal circumstances more than capable of taking care of herself but she was injured and for now at least, unable to fight to her full potential.

Kehlan reached up and brushed back her hair, for the first time revealing the clan mark the young Yautja warrior had carved into her cheek, the same marking she could see engraved into the masks of all three of the ambassadorial party. "He won't hurt me. None of them will."

Sal frowned, not understanding. Nevertheless, respecting her friend's choice she reluctantly let the knife slip back into its sheath and moved aside. Even so, she remained vigilant, ready to act if the huge Predator that approached was not as friendly as Kehlan seemed to think he would be. In her peripheral vision she could just see the Klingon security captain, his hand resting lightly on his own knife, ready to intervene should it prove necessary.

Stepping past her friend, Kehlan came face to face with the Elder. The old Predator stared impassively at the half Klingon female – tired, dirty and obviously injured, taking in the Yautja symbol engraved on her cheek, the emblem of his own clan. Livid and unhealed the mark proclaimed that prey or not, this one had been judged worthy and was entitled to the friendship and protection of the Yautja race.

Slowly, he reached up and with nimble claws, he clicked open the fastenings that held his mask in place. There was a faint hiss of escaping air as he removed the mask and hung it from his belt. For the first time, his facial features were exposed to the beings he had come to negotiate with.

Like Kehlan, several members of the command crew, including Colonel Speares, had watched the old movies, purely in the name of research of course, and the appearance of the Predators was not a complete surprise. It was fairly obvious, Speares thought, that the old film makers had known what a Yautja looked like, although how that was possible, he didn't know. He could only assume that if the Yautja truly had hunted on Earth in the past, that somewhere… somehow… some government agency had known of their existence and had covered it up. Releasing the information in the form of a fictional movie would be a very effective way of creating plausible deniability. The Welshman shrugged. He'd always been interested in conspiracy theories and there were plenty of them from that time period. For now however, he was just glad to see his captain alive.

Undoubtedly, by Terran standards, the Yautja Elder was incredibly ugly. The watching Starfleet officers however, even those who had either not bothered or had not had the time to watch the movies, had long since become accustomed to working with various alien races, some of whom strongly resembled humans and some who did not – Tellarites, Horta, even Naausicans. Unlike the humans of the 20th century who had no experience of extra terrestrial life other than the fiction they saw on their screens, they saw no horror in the Elder's appearance although it was undoubtedly different to anything they had seen before.

Kehlan stared incredulously at the old Predator, her gaze fixing on the clan markings etched into his high forehead, markings that echoed the newly made scars on her own face. She saw also three parallel lines running in a diagonal across his face, the scars old and faded, remnants of a long ago battle that had almost cost the Predator his sight.

"George?"

The Elder inclined his head, his mandibles flaring in what she had come to recognise as a smile. "Geo'rrrge"

Unheeding of any possible danger to herself, Kehlan crossed the deck in a few short steps, and to the complete astonishment of all watching, she threw her arms around his waist. He was tall… taller even than she remembered and his waist was the highest part of him she could reach to hug. Obviously he had reached his full growth in the years since she had seen him last. It was an odd feeling. For her it had been only minutes. For him though, many years had gone by and the teenaged hunter she remembered had aged and matured. He was an Elder now, the leader of his clan and the ambassador she had come here to negotiate with. Whether that last was a good thing remained to be seen. For now she was just glad to see him alive.

Both Kihr'yende and Da'rian snarled and moved forwards, intending to forcibly drag the halfbreed female away from their Elder, not comprehending how it was that the missing captain had come to be marked with the symbol of their own clan. Honoured or not, no member of a prey species should touch their Elder in such a way, the insult was not to be tolerated!

With a trill of laughter, the Elder named George waved back the two younger Predators before picking up the old friend, that after such a long, long time, he had never thought to see again, and lifting her to eye level. "Kay-lan!" He released his grip on her and she landed back on the deck with a thump, losing her balance and staggering. She would have fallen but for the large arm that George, belatedly remembering her injuries, put out to steady her. He turned to his escort and seeing their confusion and anger, spoke in his own language, "Kihr'yende my son. This is your sister"


	32. authors note

Just wanted to let you know I am working on chapter 32 and apologise for the delay in releasing it. In the meantime, I'd like to let you know that I have other stories on this site which you may enjoy. Dominion tells the story of how the characters mention in the novel all came to be serving together and takes place during the Dominion War. so if you want to know more about Kehlan, Krang, Speares, Rhiana and S'ian etc, Dominion is the story to read. The story is complete but so far I have only posted 5 chapters due to lack of interest from readers. If I see any signs of people wanting it, then I will post the rest.

Meanwhile, I'd like to answer some points reviewers have made..

Hermes said "Go to the website ' .org' the online encyclopedia, then look up Yautja. It will tell you everything about them to make this story realistic.

You have written things about the Yautja that doesn't match what is known about them. For instance, the online encyclopedia says that they are a matriarchal society (Female Yautja are bigger and stronger than males). And When they mark others with ther tribe's symbol, (Yautja are a tribal culture) they are accepting them into their tribe, not their family"

Firstly, the various Wikipedias are fan written and are therefore not canon or even reliable. The only things we know for definite about the Yautja is what is in the various movies and to a lesser degree the novels. Since the novels contradict each other however I feel free to interpret the information as I wish. The second story about Machiko for example (War) has her fight and kill Shorty. In book 3 Shorty is alive and well. Perry tells us that female Preds are big and strong. Forever Midnight makes the Preds Hermaphrodites and calls them the Hish (And I feel a need to wash my mouth out after mentioning that book).

Yes, the Predators are a tribal culture, their society is clan based. A clan usually consists of closely related individuals. My Predator Elder chooses to think of Kehlan as a member of his family. I have not seen anything in canon to contradict this. I would also point out that the term "sister" can also mean "hunt sister" As for matriarchal, I believe I did discuss this in chapter 1.

Having said that, this is a story about Predators and Starfleet and time travel. That's about as unrealistic as you can get. Its fantasy. I am writing this story for fun, not to be realistic. If you want realistic there are plenty of soap operas out there.

Now, to answer Paul… "Seems a rather silly place to hold diplomatic meetings. Temporal eddies indeed! You've made Starfleet look positively amateurish, yet the Yautja despite their primitive ways, are advanced technologically. The fact their warriors show detailed knowledge of science is a puzzle as well."

Yes, it's a silly place to hold a conference (however if everything was safe and went according to plan there would be no story). In a later chapter Kehlan will be voicing her displeasure about the stupidity of the meeting place.

Why is it a puzzle that the Yautja have detailed knowledge of science and are advanced technologically. They ARE advanced, they live a primitive hunting lifestyle through choice. They have space travel, cloaking systems, plasma casters and other advanced weaponry. Even if the original technology was stolen there have to be Yautja who can maintain it, repair it, build new ships, navigate across space etc.. those are all jobs that require a detailed understanding of science. It can't all be done by slaves. Would you trust a slave to do jobs as important as looking after your life support? Its also worth mentioning that they are in their own space. I think it reasonable that they would know the dangers of one of their own star systems. Starfleet are not incompetent for being unable to detect the eddies. A standard san would not detect them and you will only detect something if you are looking for it. They had no reason to be scanning for temporal anomalies. (and a treasonous admiral not passing on all the information doesn't help either)

Pauls second review "I don't believe a Klingon General would be able to give orders on a Starfleet vessel. Also a colonel is not part of the Starfleet rank structure. Finally, if you've had the Klingon captain fighting 'Aliens' on the planet surface in hand to hand combat, that's just painfully silly, it reduces their menacing quality. I'm also surprised at the phoebleness of the security in place, especially considering what they know of the Predators as well as the fact Starfleet has just finished a long and bloody war with the Dominion."

It was made fairly clear in chapter 2 that this is a JOINT Klingon Federation mission and that Khetara was to take command of the mission. Therefore she DOES have the right to give orders to the Starfleet crew.

Colonel is a marines rank. Speares is a marine and therefore holds a marine rank. There is precedent for this as shown in DS9, Major Kira is a member of the Bajoran Militia yet has a position of responsibility where she can give orders to Starfleet officers.

The Klingon captain fighting aliens. Not sure what the problem is here. There are plenty of canon examples of humans fighting aliens with hand weapons. Lex was a mountain guide, she wasn't even a trained soldier yet she was able to kill aliens. We also have Machiko in the novels. Klingons are trained to fight from a very young age and Kehlan is no exception. She came through the worst of the dominion war and survived, yes I think she would be able to kill an alien or two. Even so, she was injured on several occasions.

The feebleness of security? I'm guessing you refer to the guard getting killed? Security were doing their jobs keeping non essential personnel away from the Yautja. Poor O'Henry however messed up. Even the best officer can suffer a lapse of attention and make a mistake. O'Henry's got him killed.

Anyway, that said, I will have chapter 32 up as soon as possible, definitely in the next couple of weeks. There are not many chapters left of this story, but a sequel will follow. sorry for the delays but I dont want to release it until its good enough.


	33. Chapter 32

For several moments, there was complete silence in the shuttle bay. Kehlan's actions and the Elder's response to them had taken everyone by surprise.

Even as the two Predators forced back their outrage in deference to the wishes of their Elder, Endeavour's security officers were reacting to the perceived threat to their own captain, raising their weapons and starting to move forwards.

Reacting quickly, Speares whirled to face them. "Weapons down!" he ordered urgently. "Stand easy"

Thinking better of their instinctive reactions, the guards lowered their weapons. After what had happened to O'Henry, they were all painfully aware of the consequences of turning a weapon on the Yautja. His story had spread through the ship like a brush fire, but then again, so had the alien warriors' prowess on the ground during the away mission. The Predators were becoming allies of a sort but not one member of the security section was fool enough to believe that this meant they were not dangerous.

Speares relaxed slightly as the security team obeyed his order. It was with some relief that he noted that, their attention focused on the Klingon female, the Predators did not seem to have noticed the reactions of his guards, or at least, if they had noticed they did not seem bothered. For himself, he had no idea what Kehlan was playing at although doubtless he would find out eventually. He'd long since stopped being surprised by anything his captain did.

The Predator captain bit back a growl as he attempted to make sense of the situation. Sister? It did not make sense. What had happened down on the planet? Why was this female marked with the symbol of his clan? What had she done to earn it and who had marked her?

Kihr'yende considered these questions as he watched his father with the half Klingon female. Suddenly understanding dawned! He realised that if he were to check the clan records, he would find that the date of his father's _Chiva_ corresponded with the length of time the small Klingon ship had traversed in order to retrieve the missing Captain.

The story of his father's first Hunt was one that Kihr'yende had heard many times and he had seen the skull of the _Kainde Amedha_ queen mounted in his trophy room. It was a story that had entered into clan legend. For an inexperienced, unblooded youngster on his Blooding Hunt to not only survive an encounter with a queen, but to bring back the skull, with nothing more than bladed weapons and only an Ooman female at his side was nothing short of incredible. If this captain was the same Ooman that his father had spoken of, then she deserved entrance into the clan – and if the Elder had chosen to make her part of his family, then it was not his place to argue.

Slowly, Kihr'yende approached the female and lowered his head, almost half stooping down to her comparatively diminutive stature in order to examine her. Careful not to be too rough and cause inadvertent harm, he placed a large hand on her uninjured shoulder and shook it in the traditional greeting of his people. "Greetings, Little Sister".

Still standing on Night Dagger's disembarkation ramp, tense and ready to intervene at any moment should it be necessary, N'Sal had also figured it out. She was acutely cognisant of the intensity of her friend's grief, just less than one short hour ago; Kehlan's not unreasonable assumption that after eight centuries her Yautja companion would be long dead. The half Romulan mercenary glanced at Krang, seeing similar realisation in his dark eyes. "Obviously" she said, carefully keeping her tone soft, "the Yautja have much longer life spans than we realised"

Krang nodded his shaggy head in mute agreement. He was aware of several races far longer lived than humans or Klingons, the most famous being of course, the El Aurians. It was not improbable that a reptilian species should have a long life span. Even on Earth, the Giant Reptiles were the longest lived of the Terran species.

It had been the thought of a long, relaxing shower and a good night's sleep in a proper bed - not that her bed was comfortable by Terran standards but it should have been a huge improvement on sleeping half way up a tree – that had kept Kehlan going through the harshness of the jungle environment. Now, in the safety of her quarters, she found that it felt odd to sleep alone. She'd become accustomed to the young hunter's presence; those unblinking amber eyes watching over her, his heavy, muscular arm resting protectively across her body, ensuring she did not fall from the high up branch he had considered a safe sleeping place. The smooth flat bunk seemed incredibly precarious without him and she'd spent most of the night tossing and turning, eventually dozing off into a fitful sleep some time before ship's dawn.

She did not sleep for long and it was still well before the scheduled start of her shift when she woke again. After tossing and turning for another hour, she finally decided that a short doze counted as medically ordered rest and got up. After a long, hot shower that went a long way towards making her feel better, she dressed for duty and grabbed a strong raktajino before heading out.

Entering her ready room, Kehlan flung her uniform jacket over the back of her chair as, finding herself in need of more caffeine, she headed for the replicator. Her aim was slightly off and she cursed as it slid over the leather upholstery and landed in a crumpled heap under the desk. For a rebellious moment, she was strongly tempted to leave it where it lay but old habits died hard and with a sigh, she detoured to pick it up. The errant jacket dealt with to her satisfaction, she resumed her journey to the replicator.

Ordering another raktajino she rubbed her eyes fiercely and settled down to start on the stack of reports. Kehlan frowned. She had a lot to catch up on. She'd demanded a report the previous evening after having her wounds treated, but to her shock not only had Speares refused, insisting that she needed to rest and recover from her injuries, but her CMO, a stately Vulcan woman named T'lia, had backed him up, even going so far as to threaten to relieve her of duty if she did not comply. She growled at the thought, making a mental note that was only half joking to kill them both, preferably slowly and painfully. She smiled slightly. Even if the Federation allowed that sort of thing she would not carry out her threat. They were both far too good at their jobs as well as being long standing personal friends.

The ship's doctors had done a good job of treating her wounds. There was barely a mark on her to show where the teeth of the Kainde Amedha queen had torn into flesh and muscle. T'lia had wanted to remove the scar on her face, Kehlan remembered, but she had refused, placing a hand protectively over the mark to prevent the doctor from touching it. She did not completely comprehend the meaning of the mark but she knew it was important to the Yautja. In the end, the Vulcan Healer had settled for simply closing and disinfecting the wound, allowing it to scar as nature and the Yautja people intended.

Smothering a yawn, Kehlan took another mouthful of the scalding hot, coffee-like beverage and activated the nearest padd. It was time she found out what she'd missed while she'd been away. There was no need for her to spend long on her review, she found. The story was succinct and damning. Fury mounting, she opened a channel. "All command officers to the briefing room, NOW!"

The order was hardly a surprise to her officers and within minutes, all her heads of department were assembled around the conference table. An uncomfortable silence filled the briefing room as the half Klingon captain considered the report her command staff had given her. "This mission has been a disaster from beginning to end" Kehlan growled. She glanced again at the padd in her hand. "And this Jonathan Price" she asked grimly, "Where is he now?"

"He is in the brig" Speares answered, his tone equally dark. "We arrested him after we learned of his criminal record. So far though, there is no evidence to connect him to the sabotage"

The Klingon woman frowned. "It is too big a coincidence. I do not trust this"

Rhiana nodded, "I agree completely. However, he maintains his innocence and while I am constrained by Federation methods he is unlikely to change his story."

Kehlan gave a frustrated sigh. "You know I cannot authorise Tal Shiar methods. Evidence obtained via torture is inadmissible in a Federation court of law."

"So in the meantime he invokes his _Khest'n_ Terran right to silence" Qeytok snarled, slamming his fist down on the table with enough force to make coffee cups jump up. "And we run around in circles like a Targ with two legs shorter than the others!"

"Have Krang and N'Sal assist CSIS in the investigation" Kehlan decided. "I am aware that FedKIN have no official jurisdiction here but we would be stupid to ignore their expertise"

"Special Agent Zhiva is competent" Rhiana agreed. "But we can use all the help we can get"


	34. Chapter 33

"So where do we go from here?"

Krang shook his head with frustration as he considered N'Sal's question. In the last hour they'd learned nothing new and as Rhiana had pointed out, while they were forced to work to Federation protocols, it was unlikely that the prisoner would change his story in any significant way. Despite all their questioning, they had been unable to shake Price's story. He'd been horrified, he told the security captain earnestly, by the terrible tragedy in the shuttle bay, but he could not possibly have been involved. He'd been in Ten Forward at the time, he insisted. Plenty of people had seen him here and could vouch for him.

_As the door opened, Price had turned to meet his interrogator, but he still showed no emotion, betrayed no indication of what was in his mind. Only the faintest flicker of his eyes betrayed his nervousness as he saw the intimidating black uniform of a high ranking Klingon Imperial Intelligence officer._

_Wordlessly, Krang took the empty seat opposite him and glared straight into the younger man's face._

_"I'm a Federation citizen" Price informed his captor belligerently. "You have no jurisdiction here"_

_"We are officers of FedKIN" the Security Captain informed him. "You are suspected of actions treasonous to the Federation and its allies. That gives me jurisdiction". He bared his teeth in a grim, unpleasant smile._

_"I've done nothing wrong" Price insisted. "I can't believe you think I had anything to do with that awful tragedy in the cargo bay!"_

_"Where were you in the run up to the blowout?" N'Sal asked quietly. She stood to Price's right, leaning against the wall behind him._

_"I already told Commander Rhiana" he said, "I was in Ten Forward, having a drink. I remember the Yau... the aliens coming in and there was nearly a riot"_

_"The Yautja" Krang nodded. "Elaborate"_

_"It all went a bit crazy" Price remembered. "Rossi was yelling about wanting justice and making demands for the murderers to be arrested." He shrugged. "Security were trying to calm things down when all the alarms went off"_

_"Why did Rossi want justice?"_

_"For O'Henry" Price replied promptly. "One of the aliens killed him and Rossi saw it happen. He said O'Henry never did anything wrong, he just bumped into one of them and they slaughtered him for it"_

_What did you want?"_

_"Me?" his eyes wide and innocent, Price gazed at the big Klingon looming over him, "I wasn't involved. I was just trying to enjoy a quiet drink"_

"He has an answer for everything" the security captain growled, looking up from the padd he was reading. "Either he is as innocent as he claims or he has been very well trained"

Not even the innocent can answer EVERY question" the half Romulan responded darkly.

Krang nodded in agreement, turning his attention momentarily back to the transcript of the interrogation. The prisoner had continued to maintain that he had been set up, claiming he had been approached by Starfleet Intelligence for an undercover mission and that he had been given the identity of a wanted criminal to aid him in that mission.

"_I can't believe you think I had anything to do with that tragedy!" Price looked up at the big Klingon, his expression sincere and guileless. Inside though, his mind was racing as he desperately tried to figure out how to extricate himself from the difficult situation in which he found himself. "I knew most of the cargo bay crew" he told the Klingon, "They were my FRIENDS! Why would I want to kill them?"_

"_You have a criminal record" Krang pointed out, "You lied about that to Starfleet, why should I believe you now?"_

_Price shook his head vehemently, "That's not true!" he vowed. I am a loyal Starfleet Officer. I…" He stopped, "Sir, I respectfully decline to answer any further questions. Under Federation law, I am invoking my right to remain silent"_

_If he really was an agent, Price's declaration of loyalty would be honest enough, Krang thought. An operative that broke easily under pressure was not only useless but a liability, a danger to the mission. Krang was however, an experienced interrogator; he needed those answers and he would get them, whatever it took. "You have no choice but to talk to me" the Klingon said. "Why don't you start by telling me your real name?"_

"_My name is Lieutenant Junior Grade Jonathan Price. I can answer no further questions"_

"_I seriously doubt that" Krang snapped, his temper starting to fray. "Who are you really?"_

_Price jumped at the Klingon's aggressive snarl. "I'm a Starfleet Officer" he insisted unhappily. "They told me I should remain in service aboard the Endeavour until an appropriate training vacancy arose"._

_"Who did?"_

_"I wanted to be like James Bond when I was a kid... you know, a handsome secret agent who had adventures all around the Federation and had all these great gadgets and always got the most beautiful women." The Lieutenant sighed. "One night at the academy – about a week before I was posted to the ship – someone was waiting for me in my Quarters. He said they'd been looking for someone like me... they said I had the makings of a good agent for Starfleet's Special Services Section. I told them I was expected to report to my assignment. He said I should continue as it would take time for Starfleet Intelligence to set up my cover and back story anyway. I wouldn't be called to active service until all that was done". The young man looked down at his hands folded on the table. "Security Captain... Sir... I've been set up, haven't I? Just how... gullible am I? This IS my fault!"_

_Like many old pre 21st century stories, the James Bond adventures in all their early formats were still popular. Some of the later motion pictures had even been converted to Holonovels. Krang was familiar with them and had even watched a couple, although he had not been impressed. In his view, they bore no resemblance to what a spy or intelligence agent really did. He shook his head. Was Price the gullible innocent he claimed to be or was he putting on a good act. At this stage it was hard to tell._

"I intend to investigate his claims" the Security Captain said eventually, once again bringing his attention back to the present. "If he's working for Starfleet Intelligence... or more likely Section 31..." Krang had no respect for Starfleet's black ops department or its operatives. In his view they were completely without honour. He gave a grunt of disgust at the thought before continuing "…there will be records and I will find them." FedKIN had been designed as a liaison between Starfleet Intelligence and Imperial Intelligence. As the head of the organisation, the documents and records of both agencies should be available to him.

"I will see if SCIS require an extra pair of hands" N'Sal decided. "If there are no records, you will need the evidence to take a second crack at him"

The Klingon bared his teeth in something approximating a smile. "I'm sure your skills will be of use to them"

The Romulan shuddered, though she concealed it well. The Klingon baring of teeth meant one thing to her and it was not friendship. Once again she found herself wondering how she had ended up working for a Klingon, why she had let Admiral Mackenzie talk her into the job. She owed them nothing; she was a mercenary not a Starfleet officer. Not for the first time, she considered pulling off the hateful and restrictive uniform and walking away.

She sighed. As Klingons went, Krang wasn't so bad. At least he wasn't violent. Sometimes he seemed almost human, a factor the mercenary put down to the influence of Chrissie, his Terran wife. An involuntary smile creased the corners of her lips at the thought of Chrissie. Despite herself, she rather liked Krang's wife. She had tamed her husband. Her gentleness and nurturing personality had influenced him, softening his rough edges and muting the violence. A less likely candidate for the wife of a Klingon warrior would be very hard to find. N'Sal did not know how the union had come to be, but she admitted that the couple fitted well together.

Momentarily lost in her thoughts, N'Sal could not have realised that Krang had noted the flickers in her expression at that moment and was formulating a plan. The Klingon was well aware of her distrust of his kind. While he was not privy to the details, he had a good idea of the cause. It seemed obvious to him that at some point in her past, N'Sal had been brutally attacked. Not all Klingons followed the way of honour.

Bringing his attention back to the issues at hand, Krang forced himself to concentrate. He said nothing to N'Sal of the idea forming in his mind. If it were to work, her reactions had to be genuine. "Very well" he nodded at last. "Agent Zhiva has little experience with forensic data analysis. You had better make sure nothing has been missed"

At N'Sal's nod of acknowledgement, the Klingon got to his feet. "I'll be on Night Dagger if you need me." Krang swept from the room, his metal shod boots echoing loudly on the deck plates.


	35. Chapter 34

"You will stay away from our worlds unless invited" the Elder said bluntly. He sat regally in his chair, one of three that had been specially constructed for the negotiations. Even in the larger seats, the Predators did not look comfortable. Offices and briefing rooms were not their preferred environment. Kehlan could not help thinking that the three of them would be more at ease crouched on the branches of trees than seated around a polished wood table. It was an effort not to smile at the thought of her Federation colleagues, in their smart Starfleet uniforms, sitting high up in a tree rather than round the conference table in the conference room.

Any amusement Kehlan might have felt was quickly erased by the Yautja's statement. It was a brutally abrupt way to commence the negotiations and in response she allowed a slight frown to crease her forehead. "You offer nothing"

The Predator Elder, who so many years ago Kehlan had nicknamed George let out a low growl that should have been intimidating but did not worry the half Klingon captain in the slightest. "It cannot be otherwise" he insisted. "Our worlds are dangerous to you. The _Kainde Amedha_ are dangerous to you. Your ships encroach on our territories, ignore our warning buoys… The truth, Kay-lan, is this… At least one Federation ship has landed on one of our hunting worlds and unknowingly infested with the parasites, travels into your space taking Death with it."

"The parasites?" Kehlan had read the reports from the Away team but she did not completely comprehend.

He leaned forward, "You do not understand the life cycle of the _Kainde Amedha_" he told her" "I will explain. You have seen the Queen, Kay-lan. She lays eggs… many eggs… those eggs hatch and the parasite emerges. It will look for a host and when it finds one, the second stage of its life begins."

The two science officers followed his explanation with great interest. "You are referring to the arachnoid creature?" S'ian asked, remembering the incredible speed with which the thing on the wall had leapt for Murray's face. He remembered also, Da'rian's warning, "_The best you can hope for is a quick death at the hands of a friend!"_

George inclined his head gravely, "I am" he confirmed. "It serves one purpose only and to achieve that purpose it will cover your face and when you open your mouth to gasp for breath, it will implant the larva in you.

Vixis remembered the body hanging embedded in the walls of the cave, mouth open in a soundless, eternal scream, ribs and chest bones broken and splayed outwards. "And when it has grown, it breaks free of its host" she guessed, forcibly repressing a shudder.

The Elder inclined his head in agreement. "It bursts out through the chest of its host" he said bluntly. "No host has ever survived the _z'skvy-de_"

Kehlan felt sick and glancing round the room, she guessed she was not the only one. "But… we killed the queen"

"Many hive species are able to change sex in the absence of a female" S'ian said carefully, glancing at the Elder for confirmation of his theory.

"You are correct" George told the Vulcan. "Kay-lan, we killed one female. Another will have risen to take her place and lead the hive"

The half Klingon captain was barely able to repress a shudder as she remembered the desperate fight against the _Kainde Amedha_ queen.

"So... Killing them one by one is ineffective" Vixis ventured. "A more drastic, widespread solution is required when a colony is encountered so they can be eradicated completely"

Kihr'yende snarled in disgust. They were prey, nothing more than _Pyode Amedha_. They could not be expected to comprehend the importance of the Hunt.

The Elder directed a sharp growl at his son, a warning to restrain himself. "You misunderstand" George said, "It is not our desire to wipe out the _Kainde Amedha_. They are essential to our way of life."

"You hunt them... yet what would occur if the population of such dangerous creatures swelled beyond your capacity to control it?" S'ian enquired, making notes and noting theories on a padd.

"We are careful" Kihr'yende said somewhat defensively, "we count every egg left on a planet and ensure that before we leave, every last one is destroyed. To destroy the natural balance of the habitat would be criminal."

Kehlan frowned, "But that was not the case here. You left the planet infested with the _Kainde_ _Amedha_"

"Mistakes were made" the Elder explained. "We fell foul of the time distortions. The Elders of the time seeded the planet according to our protocols, but they waited too long. A colony established itself and a queen developed, the same queen that you and I killed. Their numbers grew out of control and eventually a natural balance was established. To eradicate them completely would have meant destroying the entire planet. The Elders made a decision not to interfere further but to retain this place as a breeding reserve. Only our more experienced warriors may hunt here now"

For the first time, Da'rian spoke. "We do not wish to close our borders completely. As our Elder has told you, our worlds are dangerous to you. For your own protection any ships coming into our space must be escorted and any deviation from the agreed routes will not be tolerated." He hesitated, glancing warily at his Elder before continuing, "I have come to believe that our peoples have much to offer each other."

Seeing he had the attention of the Oomans, Da'rien began to outline his idea. "Your worlds are home to many predatory species that my people might consider interesting prey. Our worlds are rich in mineral deposits and as sites of scientific interest. I believe that there is much we can teach one another and much that we can give one another if the Federation will allow us to protect it by enforcing strict border control

Kreltek nodded. The idea interested him. "We Klingons would be very interested in hunting on your worlds" he conceded, "and I believe you would find our sabre bears a interesting challenge"

"Sentient?" Kihr'yende was now warming to the idea as well.

The Klingon shook his head, "No, but they are still a formidable prey." Calling up an image on his padd, he handed it to the Predator to study.

The Yautja Captain's mandibles clicked thoughtfully. "A shame it is not sentient"

George nodded in agreement with his son's sentiment. "Intelligent prey always makes for a better hunt"

"Intelligence can be found in non-sentient creatures" Kehlan argued. "I myself was once almost killed by an animal that demonstrated far more cunning than I have even seen you demonstrate"

The Elder gave a low growl that his subordinates had long since learned was a warning to desist. Old friend or not, he did not appreciate her elevating a mere animal above him. Disrespect was not to be tolerated. "It is the way of our people"

Kehlan however did not recognise the warning. "The way of your people?" she said incredulously, shaking her head in disgust. "It is barbaric and dishonourable to hunt sentient beings!"

The insult to his honour was more than he was willing to bear. His growl deepening into something approaching a roar of absolute fury, the old Predator was instantly on his feet, his wrist blades coming to bear and causing the security officers on duty to tense in preparation for trouble.

Realising too late that she had pushed him too far, Kehlan stood up, fighting the instinct to draw her _d'k'tagh_. She had not intended to insult her friend and did not quite know how to deal with the situation she had inadvertently caused.

One simple flex of his muscular legs was all it took for George to clear the table. The leap seemed effortless and, having landed, he flared his mandibles, baring his razor sharp teeth and roared a challenge, inches from Kehlan's face.

The Klingon woman was unable to prevent herself from taking a step back. He had been a formidable warrior as a youngster and she had wondered more than once if she could beat him in a fight. Now that he was fully mature and in his prime she had her answer and she could not help but feel a faint tinge of fear as she faced him.


	36. Chapter 35

I'd just like to thank all the wonderful people who sent me pm's or left reviews asking me to continue. Your support means alot to me. Thank you for your positive comments and the kick up the backside to keep posting chapters.

After several hours of fruitless investigation, Zhiva was starting to get frustrated. Straightening her aching back, she muttered a rude word that she knew would have shocked her straight-laced traditionalist parents had they heard her. The thought made her shrug with a momentary bitterness. It had been a long time since she had worried about what her parents thought. If she'd done as they'd wanted she'd still be living in the ice caves.

Oh I wouldn't do that" a voice remarked behind her. "It doesn't sound very comfortable"

Zhiva spun round in surprise to see a slender red haired Romulan woman in a Starbase uniform. Do what? She was about to voice the question when she remembered the rude word she had muttered, a suggestion that any listener do something that was, to say the least, anatomically… difficult. She blushed, embarrassment sending the blood rushing to her cheeks, staining them a delicate yet unearthly ice blue. Then she frowned, realising belatedly that she did not recognise the newcomer. "This is a restricted area, you should not be in here. I'm afraid I will have to ask you to leave."

"I am here to assist you, Special Agent."

As the Romulan approached, Zhiva caught a glimpse of the FedKIN patch on her arm. "You're out of your jurisdiction" she said warily, "But I won't deny I could use the help."

"Then let's get started."

Zhiva hesitated, "Would you mind identifying yourself first?"

"N'Sal... Sal if you like. Colonel Speares asked me to come and give you some backup"

Slowly the Andorian woman nodded. She should probably verify the claim but doubtless it would check out. No Starfleet employee would lie so readily, at least not about something that could so easily be confirmed. "Forgive me for being so wary" she said, "Its all been a bit... I mean, we've never had a crime this serious on board the ship"

"All the more reason to find an answer quickly"

Zhiva nodded, gesturing for N'Sal to join her at the console. "Whoever engineered this has to have done so from here" she said, "But they must be an expert computer programmer. They've done an incredible job of covering their tracks"

"Are there personnel with those kind of skills on board?" The Romulan asked as she accessed the programming records.

"Too many" Zhiva said grimly, "Endeavour is the flagship, it only gets assigned the best"

"There is the best... and then there is who did this... and dropped a crumb" N'Sal grinned wolfishly, stopping on a screen that seemed to Zhiva to be no different to the others.

Her antennae twitched in concentration as she studied the screen N'Sal had highlighted. "What have you found?"

"This command sequence has recorded ID information that hasn't been properly wiped"

Zhiva leaned closer, mentally resolving to take a course in advanced computer programming once she got back to the starbase. The data was degraded. It had been through a wipe attempt that had only partially succeeded. Slowly the Andorian smiled. "Can we identify the programmer from this?"

"There is enough data here to reconstruct the information from scratch. All you need do is input the command and with a bit of luck, the base command sequence will include a numerical operator unique to the person that wrote the sequence. And you have your culprit"

The Andorian woman gave a vindictive smile. She would have vengeance for this… justice, she corrected herself. Endeavour was a small community. Everyone knew everyone else. She had known the people killed and very likely she knew their killer. The thought sickened her. "Let's do it then"

Side by side, the two investigators began to input the necessary instructions to reconstruct the damaged data blocks. Slowly but surely a picture of the events leading up to the tragedy began to build up.

"Coward..." The Romulan hissed, her hand trailing to the distinctly non-regulation knife strapped to her leg.

"Have we got an ID?" Zhiva asked tensely.

"There is the ID code. The computer will match it to a crew member"

Taking the code, the Andorian agent swiftly input the data into the computer and waited for an answer. It was almost instantaneous. Lieutenant Commander Philippe Goyard.

"Where is he?"

"Lieutenant Commander Philippe Goyard is currently in main engineering." The computer's voice was cold and toneless as it gave out the information. Despite the heat - and to the Aenar woman everywhere on the ship seemed unbearably hot - Zhiva shivered. Was it just her imagination or did even the ship's computer sound outraged over the atrocity?

"You have your culprit, Special Agent"

"So we do" Zhiva's voice was as cold as the ice caverns she had grown up in. "Philippe Goyard, senior computer technician, Beta shift. Transferred six months ago from the USS Obready." She hit her combadge. "Security, have Lieutenant Commander Goyard arrested"

_"On what charge, ma'am?"_ The voice was that of Lieutenant Mark Griffiths, the officer who until a few hours ago, had been Endeavour's deputy security chief and who had found himself suddenly promoted by the murder of his immediate superior.

If it were possible, Zhiva's voice became even colder "Murder, mutiny, sabotage... that should do for now"

_"Consider it done, ma'am!" _Lieutenant Griffiths' voice was equally chilly. His senior was not the only security officer to have died in the attack. _"A security team is on the way now"_

With Endeavour hanging motionless in space for the negotiations, there was little for the engineering crew to do. Qeytok however, ran a tight department and kept his team busy with maintenance work, inspecting and tuning the engines and running various tests and diagnostics.

Goyard lay on his side halfway up an inspection tube, carefully monitoring the oscillations of the dilithium frequency as varying power levels were put through. The monitor reading spiked and he made an adjustment. The flow settled down again. _"Bien"_ he smiled to himself.

Coming on board the Endeavour had been a difficult adjustment for him, although career wise it had been a good decision. Unlike the Obready, the crew here spoke mostly English, a language which Goyard spoke well- it was the official language of the Federation after all - but he missed the sound of his native French around him. There was no language barrier as such, but the Frenchman sometimes felt misunderstood by his colleagues through his thick accent. He sighed at the thought and turning his attention back to his work, he reached for his computer pass to sign off on his work, only to remember that it was still missing. _Merde!_ He'd been meaning to report its disappearance for a few days now, but no doubt it was just his carelessness and it would turn up under his bed or in some other equally silly place. It would require a replacement, but right now he had to sign off. Without the card, he would have to give the computer an iris scan. Sighing again, he activated the scanner, pressed his eye to it and hit the switch.

Commander Qeytok had been about to initiate a warp alignment test when the doors to his department had swung open, admitting several armed security officers. He scowled. He did not like intruders in his domain and he wondered irritably what they wanted.

"Where is Phillipe Goyard?" Griffiths demanded.

Qeytok let out a low warning growl, not appreciating the other man's attitude. "He is busy. What do you want with him?"

"He's wanted in connection with the deaths of a number of personnel"

The Klingon's growl deepened, taking on a menacing tone as he made the connection. "The shuttle bay?"

"Affirmative. SCIS have evidence linking him to the computer sabotage"

Qeytok's growl became a roar of anger, his hand going automatically to the knife in his belt. Calming himself with a visible effort, he turned and pointed. "He is over there in the Jefferies tubes."

"Which one?"

"I will show you" the Klingon rumbled. Moving surprisingly quietly for such a big man, he crossed the room, followed closely by the security officers. The group was still ten feet away when Goyard's feet appeared from the Jefferies tube as he wriggled out. Straightening up, the Frenchman tugged on his creased uniform, pulling it back into place before glancing at the security officers in mild surprise.

"Phillippe Goyard turn around and put your hands on your head!" Griffiths ordered.

Goyard's surprise turned to confusion and alarm as he saw the phasers pointing at him. _ "Je ne.. " _He stopped and tried again, "I do not understand. _Avez vous une probleme?"_

"Hands on your head! Face the wall!" The order was repeated to the sound of a rifle racking up charge.

Was this another joke on the part of his new colleagues, Goyard wondered? _Non_, he decided, looking into the cold eyes of the security officers, this was no prank, it was serious, deadly serious. Suddenly afraid, he obeyed their instructions. "Why am I being arrested?"

Someone grabbed his arm and wrenched it around. He felt the cold hard metal of handcuffs locking tight around his wrist and then the same with the other arm. "Philippe Goyard you are being placed under arrest on suspicion of espionage, treason, mutiny, sabotage, murder and attempted murder" Griffiths informed him before mechanically reading him his rights.

_"Non!"_ The Frenchman protested, his fear rising as he listened to the list of charges against him. "This is a mistake."

"Take him to the Brig"

The security staff started to pull him towards the doors. _"Non!"_ he protested again, looking wildly around him, his eyes silently begging for help that was not forthcoming. _"Je n'ai rien fait de mal"_ he cried, "I have done nothing wrong, _je suis innocent"_

His colleagues watched him being led away in silence. It had been engineering that had cleared up the mess in the shuttle bay. The thought that one of their own was even suspected of causing it… As Goyard's desperate cries faded from their hearing, the engineering staff slowly returned to their work, muttering amongst themselves in disgust.


	37. Chapter 36

"George? I..."

Kehlan's uncertainty and the scent of fear infuriated the Predator Elder further and his temper fraying beyond control, he stepped forward, deliberately crowding his prey and forcing Kehlan to step back in attempt to give herself room to manoeuvre. Her _d'k'tagh_ was in her hand now, the triple blades open as she prepared to fight for her life.

_Pauk!_ However justified his Elder's anger might be, there were many reasons why this kill must not happen. Da'rian quickly got to his feet, keeping his eyes downcast and his head submissively lowered. Choosing his words carefully, he spoke both urgently and respectfully. "Honoured One... I must speak"

Focused on his anger, the Elder took no notice of his subordinate. Da'rian however was not willing to be ignored. "Honoured Elder" he said insistently, raising his voice, "I would speak before you make this most deserved kill"

Slowly George raised his head and turned it to face his security chief. "Speak then"

"This Kay-lan does not understand our ways. We have come to know it was she who accompanied you upon your _Chiva_ but she does not know why we hunt. For her, killing the _Kainde Amedha_ Queen was a matter of survival. She is ignorant like many young ones. Would it not be better to teach than to make the kill in this case? In her ignorance she spoke poorly. It is true that many animals provide more worthy prey than intelligent beings... she does not understand that many intelligent beings are too dangerous to be anything but Prey"

The old Predator did not move for a long moment. Kill Kay-lan? Kill his old friend? He had waited for so many long years to be reunited with her. No, George realised, he did not want to kill her.

Seeing something change in his father's eyes at Da'rian's words, Kirh'yende relaxed slightly. The life of the Ooman female did not interest him in the slightest, she was armed after all and she had insulted the Elder. But her death would put an end to all his father's dreams for his people and probably cause a war. He suspected also, that if his father killed his old friend, however deservedly, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Acutely aware of the enormity of her mistake, Kehlan bit her lip, wondering once again why she had been chosen for this mission. She had neither skills nor experience in this area. She was the commander of a starship, a warrior, not a member of the diplomatic corps. It was normal for someone of much higher rank and with a lot more training to be sent to negotiate a first contact treaty.

"The le-matya was smarter than me" Kehlan ventured. She had messed up big time and now she did not know how to put things right. "I think it would make fine prey, even better than the sabre bear." She looked up at the tall Predator as she spoke, meeting his gaze, an unintentional act of disrespect that caused him to tense again. He could not and would not accept a challenge from her in front of his people.

Da'rian huffed softly and caught her eye. Gently he shook his head and very deliberately bowed his own head.

Realising she had been on the verge of compounding her error and making things worse Kehlan quickly followed Da'rian's example, thankful for the younger Predator's guidance. After a long moment of tension, she heard a faint whisper of metal on metal as the Elder re-sheathed his blades. "I apologise for my careless words, Honoured Elder." She was careful to address him by his proper rank, "I did not intend to offer offense or insult you or your people in any way"

"You are still very young, Kay-lan... and the very young do not always do what is best for them" the Elder allowed magnanimously. Once again he found himself thankful that he had chosen Da'rian to accompany him on this mission. The younger Hunter had always been a peace maker, a natural diplomat who instinctively knew what to say and do. George knew that to have allowed his anger to rule him would have been disastrous. He was an Elder, he reminded himself sternly, not an undisciplined, hot tempered Young Blood. He had a responsibility to his people and losing his temper now would endanger their wellbeing. Da'rian had done well to remind him of his priorities. In fact he mused, Da'rian would make a very good leader for the Yautja people one day. That was for the future though and he put it aside to ponder over at a later date.

Sensing that for now the danger was over, the security officers stationed by the door lowered their own weapons. They had not liked the threat to their captain and had been ready to defend her – with their lives if necessary, but it was with some relief that they saw the situation resolve itself amicably. Even so, they remained alert and ready to act should the Yautja present any further threat.

His weapons disengaged, the Predator Elder moved with dignity round the table and settled himself back in his assigned seat. "You offer new prey..." George sounded thoughtful as he broke the awkward silence that had fallen. "We wish also to discuss technology."

"Your transporter technology would be useful Kihr'yende said, glancing at his father, "We would also like access to your medical knowledge"

George nodded his head in approval. The Yautja did not have transporter technology. Until now they had not particularly wanted it, had seen no need for it. He'd been aware of it for some time of course. It had been developed by the Oomans a little over two centuries ago and even for the humans it was only in the last hundred years that they had started to use it for biological transportation, a period of time that was for the Yautja, negligible.

Speares glanced down at his hands folded in his lap. A scar across his thumb stood out stark and white. It was a souvenir from a holodeck training session... where he had set the safety protocols incorrectly. It had been a stupid accident but he had been lucky not to lose his thumb that day. "We have other technology that you may find interesting"

The Yautja captain gave an interested growl. What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking of the Holodecks"

Kihr'yende nodded. He could be hot tempered and impulsive at times, but he had a fine tactical mind. It was what made him such a good ship's captain. He could see the potential of the offered technology. "We would indeed be interested" he allowed.

George snorted in disagreement. At the sound, Kehlan looked at him in surprise. ""You have different ideas, Elder?" Still a little wary of him and unsure of where she stood with her old friend, she was very careful in the way she addressed him.

"We have observed your holodecks in action. They are... playthings..."

"Play is only one of their many uses" Kreltek intervened. "They may also be used for training and the passing on of vital skills. The only limit is your imagination"

George made a slight gesture with his mandibles that Kehlan had learned to interpret as a pricking of the ears, a subtle indication of unwilling interest. She stood up. "Maybe you would like a demonstration?"

"That would be acceptable"

"I believe the holodecks should be free at this time" Kehlan said, glancing at her first officer for confirmation.

The Marine tapped his padd. "Holodeck Two is unoccupied and unreserved for the next shift"

"Reserve it" Kehlan instructed. She turned her gaze to Kreltek. "Will you join us?"

"I would be honoured" Kreltek grinned widely.

"My calisthenics programme has a jungle setting" Kehlan said, "I think it may be a good place to begin." She glanced at Speares again and he nodded approval. He'd trained with Kehlan several times and her calisthenics programme was a good one. Much like old fashioned computer games, it offered several levels of difficulty and many different environments and scenarios, although the jungle setting was not one of his favourites.

Calisthenics?" Da'rien looked wary, a little unsure of the translation he was receiving from his computer.

"Physical training" Kehlan clarified, "to hone battle skills"

The old Predator rose to his feet. "Lead the way"


	38. Chapter 37

The USS Endeavour's brig was located right in the centre of the vessel, in a high security zone on Deck Fifteen. Under normal circumstances it was one of the ship's quieter areas. Only rarely were the cells occupied, serving as temporary home to the occasional drunk and disorderly crewman. Today was different. Today the brig held two prisoners, both of them accused of some very serious crimes.

While Krang had been questioning the suspects, Lieutenant Griffiths and Special agent Zhiva had spoken with various witnesses, the most useful of whom had turned out to be the holographic bartender. Even so, they had learned little that they did not already know or that was actually helpful. Several crewmembers had testified that Philippe Goyard had indeed left Ten Forward some time before the sabotage attack. Bart however, had insisted that Goyard had seemed genuinely alarmed and upset by the wild talk. Price on the other hand had seemed to encourage it. Yet Price had been in the lounge all evening – or at least, Krang surmised, as he reviewed the reports he had been given, no-one had seen him leave.

The Klingon growled as he considered his initial meeting with Goyard. The evidence against the Frenchman was damning. Goyard was a skilled engineer. He had both the technical knowledge and the security clearance to re-programme the ship's computers. He'd also had ample opportunity to carry out the sabotage, having left Ten Forward a little over an hour before the attack and there was no-one who could verify his whereabouts during that critical period of time. The only thing missing was motive.

Jonathan Price on the other hand, and Krang's growl deepened at the thought of him, was if the evidence was to be believed, innocent. Krang did not trust that yet he could not honestly say why. He had no reason to disbelieve the other man but all his instincts and his years of experience as an Intelligence officer, told him that Price was guilty of the charges against him.

Checking through his kit one final time, Krang gave a nod of satisfaction. He had everything he needed for the interrogation. Price was a difficult subject, he was not going to be easy to break - at least, not using approved Federation techniques. The Klingon had told no one what he planned. It was essential that reactions be genuine when he revealed his hand. He could only hope that he would still have an assistant at the end of this. What he was going to do was necessary, but it would, he suspected, upset N'Sal badly.

He sighed at the thought. At best he would have some serious apologising to do... at worst, Mackenzie would be livid. At the thought of the Terran admiral who commanded Starbase 24, he almost changed his mind. James Mackenzie was both his adopted brother and his superior officer. He did not like the idea of disappointing him. Still if his plan worked, and he was almost certain it would, the Admiral would be far from disappointed. With that optimistic thought, he slammed the briefcase shut and stood up.

When he reached the interrogation room, Price was already there and N'Sal leaned silently against the wall, glaring at him. He offered her a nod of greeting. "Are you ready?"

"Of course"

Placing the case on the table he opened it and retrieved a padd, setting it to record the session. Giving Price a menacing stare, he growled "Jonathan Price. You will tell me of your involvement in the shuttle bay incident"

"I already told you, I wasn't involved!"

"I do not believe you" Krang said, leaning forward and crowding the prisoner. "You are aware of course that the Klingon and Romulan empires have outstanding warrants for your arrest. Tell me why I should not simply turn you over to them to face justice?"

"The Federation doesn't have extradition treaties with those two governments." Price spoke confidently but his eyes were just slightly wary.

"You would not be the first traitor to be handed over" Krang warned him. "I believe the Yautja have also demanded your extradition. You can talk to me or you can talk to their arbitrators"

"You have no evidence!"

"No, I do not" Krang admitted. "And with that lack of evidence I have no clear reason to allow the Federation to hold you. Hence, the outstanding warrants must be honoured."

"Either of the two empires will have to apply directly to the Federation Council and that will take time"

The Klingon bit back a sigh. He had not really expected the prisoner to break so easily. He had obviously been well trained and that in itself was suspicious. It was time to try harsher methods. He glanced at N'Sal, ostensibly seeking her input but in reality, checking he had her attention as he prepared for the next step. Her reactions were vital to the success of his ply. The Romulan had her eyes on both of them, watching carefully "N'Sal? Do you wish to add anything?"

"I am sure you will be very cocky and certain of yourself by the end of this Mr Price"

Somewhat uncertainly, the prisoner turned in his chair to face her. His attention focussed solely on his Klingon tormentor, he had almost forgotten the presence of the red headed Romulan woman.

Her eyes narrowed, seeming to stare straight through his head. He quailed under the intensity of that stare as her piercing blue eyes seemed to drill into his soul. No, he told himself, Romulans were NOT telepaths. He had nothing to fear from her.

"I can see the guilt in your heart" she told him.

Fear and doubt flickered momentarily in his eyes. "I have done nothing wrong" he insisted again.

"We shall see" Krang decided, lifting his briefcase onto the table and snapping it open. Rummaging through the padds, he pulled out a small device and set it on the table where it could be clearly seen. Roughly triangular in shape, it was easily recognisable, even to a lay person, as a Klingon agoniser.

Price shifted uneasily.

"Let it be known for the record" Krang said, "that I am acting now in the capacity of a Security Captain of Klingon Imperial Intelligence"

"You can't use that! You're on a Federation ship! I'm a Federation Citizen!" Price all but yelped.

"It is not strictly legal" Krang conceded "but then, nor is sabotaging the ship's computers and killing several crew members"

"I did nothing!"

Krang made no reply. Instead he retrieved a second device, larger this time, from his case and placed it on the table next to the first one. For less than a heartbeat there was silence then the sound of breath strangling in the throat came from behind the Security Captain. For now he ignored her. "Tell me Price" he growled, "Do you know what this is?"

"You… you can't..." the Romulan's voice was barely a squeak. With a confused frown, the prisoner shook his head then looked up in bemusement, still not understanding the significance of the item on the table.

"She knows what it is" Krang said, gesturing towards N'Sal. "Why don't you ask her?"

"No... for the love of all that is Sacred... please... " He could sense her shaking.

Offering the Romulan a mental apology, he turned towards her. "Tell him, N'Sal. Tell him what this will do to him"

Her face was as white as ice and she moaned softly, shaking her head, but Krang's glare was relentless. "It's a mindsifter" N'Sal whispered finally, avoiding both their eyes.

Price blanched, his face turning almost as white as N'Sal's. He had heard of that dreaded device, although never in his wildest nightmares had he expected to see one.

"Excellent. I will not have to waste time explaining further. I see you understand." The Klingon picked it up. Touching an unseen control, he activated the device and it came alive in his hand, lighting up and emitting a soft whirring sound. "It's calibrated to Klingon physiology" he said conversationally, "The Terran brain is less protected, there may be some permanent damage done, but with long term therapy..."

Price looked panicked and made a fruitless attempt to push away from the table. There was nowhere for him to go. The big Klingon grabbed his arm and twisting it ruthlessly, forced him to sit down again. With his free hand, Krang grasped the mind sifter. As he prepared to position it, the coded lock on the interrogation room door let out a beep indicating the wrong code had been input in an attempt to unlock the door. His assistant's hands were shaking so much that she could not hit the right keys and were tensed up as if she would claw her way out through the bulkhead if she had to. Her terror transmitted itself to the prisoner and he began to panic.

There would be trouble later, but Krang knew he could not let up the masquerade now. He growled in apparent anger and released the door. His frightened aide all but fell through the gap in her haste to escape mere seconds before Price started to scream for mercy.

Relentlessly he turned his attention on his prisoner "Well?" he demanded, "Will you talk now, or must I destroy your mind?"

"Please... please..." he begged. "I'll tell you... only put it away"


	39. Chapter 38

The settings for the holodeck programme had been chosen carefully. The jungle environment was one that was comfortably familiar to the Predators and none too unpleasant for the others in the party. The trees were thick and well grown, the dense canopy of foliage letting in just enough dim green light for the Hunters to find their way. It was eerily quiet. Like most jungles, the majority of bird and animal life resided far above the ground. Down here, gigantic insects ruled and they moved more silently than anything that looked like that had a right to. When she had developed the scenario of course, Kehlan had been careful to delete the arachnids – spiders and scorpions. She hated them with a passion. Some things even the bravest hunter did not need to face.

Kehlan normally ran this programme on level four, a level that was sufficient to give her a satisfactory workout. Today though, in honour of her Yautja guests, she'd set it to level five. She glanced at Speares. He was going to find this more of a challenge than usual. She shrugged. He was a Starfleet marine. He'd come through some very nasty hand to hand fighting in the Dominion War. He would handle it although he probably wouldn't thank her for it later.

George whirled, his massive wrist blades lashing out and decapitating the holographic monster that, taking advantage of Kehlan's momentary distraction, had been about to attack her from behind. He grunted with satisfaction as it faded to nothingness. To his surprise he was enjoying himself. It had been far too long since he had done anything purely for fun.

The half Klingon captain glanced at him appraisingly, noting how relaxed the big Predator seemed. This would be a good a time as any for them to talk, she thought. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, so many questions she wanted to ask. "You're enjoying this" she accused, smiling.

"It is a plaything" George growled, repeating his earlier assertion, "But play has its uses. This technology may indeed be of interest to us"

Kehlan nodded in agreement. "A famous human once remarked, that it was well known that the more complex the mind a being possesses, the greater the need in that being for the simplicity of play."

"You may be right" the Predator acknowledged, watching with interest as she hacked at an attacker. She had good technique and had obviously been well trained. He had noted and admired it many years ago on his _Chiva_. Now as an Elder, with centuries of experience in the Hunt, he could see areas that needed work. She was still young, he reminded himself; with time and further training she had the potential to become a formidable warrior. If she would accept his tutelage, he would be glad to provide that training. He growled as she missed an obvious opening, stepping in to dispatch the monster before it could take advantage of her lapse. "You are not paying attention, Kay-lan" he chided her, "You can do better than that."

"I was thinking" she admitted, coming to a stop and looking up at him. "We have to talk, George. This seems a good place for it"

Defeating his enemy with a satisfying thrust to the gut, Kreltek twisted his blade viciously before pulling it free and turning to look for his next opponent. He was enjoying this. It was good to fight alongside friends and allies, even if the enemy was nothing more than a hologram.

A faint movement to one side caught his peripheral vision. Expecting to see an approaching monster, he turned his head and saw Kehlan and George moving side by side deeper into the undergrowth, apparently deep in conversation. He nodded in approval. Those two needed to talk.

Kreltek had no qualms about entrusting the negotiations to Kehlan. He'd known her for a long time and she had honour. She worked for Starfleet yet she was Klingon as well. She would act in the best interests of both Federation and Empire. Besides – and he shrugged at the thought, he himself was no negotiator. He was a warrior not a diplomat. The same could be said for the Predators, he told himself. The Yautja race were known and feared across the galaxy for their hunting and fighting skills and their ruthlessness in battle. For them to offer to negotiate was unprecedented. It seemed to him that it was not an exchange of technology or the provision of new hunting grounds that would make or break this treaty – those things were just an added bonus – rather, the alliance depended on the tenuous relationship that had begun eight hundred years in the past.

Both Predators had removed their bio-masks during the fighting, finding they offered little advantage in this environment. The holographic enemies had no heat signature. Natural sight was the only way to detect them. Da'rian growled to himself, finding that much as he was enjoying the fight, he did not like the holodeck. It was… artificial… sterile… Scent was important to a Hunter, yet there was nothing here, only the stink of recycled air and cleaning chemicals. It did not seem to be bothering Kihr'yende. The Predator captain was surprisingly relaxed and obviously having fun. Da'rian however, could not honestly say he was impressed by Federation technology.

The warriors of the Federation were a different matter though. The natural ebb and flow of battle had paired Da'rian with the Ooman marine. He gave Speares an appraising stare. "You fight well" he said, before adding teasingly "Your skull would look very good on my trophy wall and bring me many privileges back on the home-world. It has been a long time since we have hunted your kind."

The marine grinned, "I like my skull where it is, thank you"

"Oomans were our prey for many millennia" Kihr'yende said, joining in the conversation. He spread his mandibles in a grin. "In fact… you worshipped us once."

Speares had spent a long time around Klingons and he gave a fairly credible growl as he retorted "Next thing, you'll be telling us the conspiracy theories were right and it was you that built the pyramids!"

The Predator captain gave him an offended stare "We are not builders. We simply gave you the plans and specifications and supervised as you carried out our instructions."

There was nothing Speares could say to that.

"For a while we were your gods" Kihr'yende said barely holding back a trill of laughter at the Ooman's expression. "We visited often, every hundred years or so by your time. We accepted your offerings and your sacrifices for the good of the Hunt. As the years passed and you became less superstitious and began to develop technology, we allowed you to forget our existence and passed into legend."

"But you didn't stop hunting us" Speares said, genuinely interested in this insight into a part of his people's history that had until now, remained nothing more than theory and guesswork.

"We continued to watch you and study you" Da'rian explained, "We hunted your warriors. Those who bore weapons and took the lives of their fellow Oomans were fair game to us. Your constant, petty wars provided us with some excellent hunting. With time we learned to distinguish between your Bad Bloods and your peacekeepers and law enforcers. We took your gang members, drug dealers, terrorists, we placed them on one of our game reserves and we hunted them like the animals they were. When you eventually became a peaceful society and the Vulcans made contact, then we stopped hunting you."

"And what of my people?" Kreltek asked, becoming interested in the discussion.

"It was a little different for your people" Kihr'yende said, "You were, and still are, great warriors and worthy opponents. Your skulls were highly prized. When the beings you call _Hurq_ arrived on your world, you fought valiantly. You defeated them, took their technology and learned to use it. What you do not know is that we Yautja assisted you. We fought them in space and drove them away from your world. They were willing to destroy your world completely and we could not allow that."

Kreltek was silent for long moments as he considered the implications of that. "And when we developed space capability you stopped hunting us" he said eventually, his tone thoughtful.

"Not exactly" Da'rian said, "It is not that both of your species developed space travel that stopped us hunting you, it was the societal changes that tend to go along with space travel. It is not of course true of all races, but we have found that when a species expands out into space they tend to develop a more…" He hesitated, trying to find the right word, "…peaceful… honourable… society"

"And as that happened" Kihr'yende added, "you no longer fulfilled the requirements that allowed us to hunt you."

Scanning the area for a good place to sit and talk, George noticed a nearby tree with a large protruding root system. That would be adequate he decided. The tree was large enough to protect his back from anything coming up behind them. From here he could still see the other members of the group and keep an eye out for any stray monsters that might choose to attack from the front. Seating himself on the conveniently placed root, he held out a clawed hand for Kehlan to join him.

With a quick order to the computer to ignore their presence in the programme, Kehlan settled herself at George's side. She started to lean on him, then changed her mind and pulled back slightly, unsure if the action would be considered disrespectful. Her old friend placed a heavy muscular arm across her shoulder, pulling her a little closer and she allowed herself to relax against him as she had so many times in the jungle down on the planet.

For long moments there was an awkward silence as both of them considered what they wanted to say to each other.


	40. Chapter 39

The interrogation room doors snapped shut, blessedly silencing Price's pleading cries. N'Sal leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, allowing the coolness of the panel to soothe away the ghostly pain that lingered there, but try as she might, she could not stop the convulsive trembling in her limbs. A slight sound caught her attention and she looked up to see a pair of security guards approaching her. "Ma'am? Are you hurt?"

'In more ways than you can conceive' the Romulan thought bitterly. "Just a headache" she lied. "It will pass"

The closer of the two guards, a Petty Officer by his rank insignia, stepped back to give her a little space. "Yes ma'am. If I can be of assistance, please feel free to ask"

"I... could use some water... if there's a replicator at the guard station?"

Gesturing to his colleague to remain at his post, the Petty Officer moved towards the corridor that would lead to the nearest station. "If you'd follow me, ma'am" he invited.

"Thank you" she nodded slightly and followed him obediently. The layout of the security suite was not complicated, a single corridor led from the interrogation rooms to a checkpoint, and hence on to the cells. There was no chance of N'Sal getting lost. Her escort was purely for courtesy and of course, for security reasons.

He paused at the checkpoint. "Your ID, Commander?" For a moment there was no answer and he was about to ask again when the Romulan reached out and placed her palm on the reader. It was rare anyone addressed her by the honorary rank on her uniform and she had almost forgotten it was there. The amber light on the reader flashed, flickering momentarily on red before going back to amber and settling on green. N'Sal scowled at the machine, feeling bizarrely insulted by its indecision as the force-field went down.

The two security officers on duty at the checkpoint stared curiously at N'Sal as the Petty Officer escorted her through the force-field before approaching the replicator and ordering a glass of cold water.

Aware of their stares, the red haired Romulan muttered something grumpily under her breath as she settled down on the bench outside the cell block and accepted the glass. The icy water was soothing, revitalising. She was more dehydrated from the shock of Krang's bluff than she had realised. She hesitated. It HAD to have been a bluff. How could she work with someone capable of that? Drinking the last of the water, she somewhat shakily handed the glass back to her escort. "Thanks... you know, you ought to get that scanner looked at. If it gives a false negative it could do the opposite."

"Yes Ma'am." There was nothing the security staff could say. Engineering were aware of the problem, but it was so rare that the brig was used that it had not been a priority.

Slightly uncomfortable with the deference, N'Sal let her eyes roam the empty cells. One bore signs of occupation - Price's presumably and one more was still active and occupied. There might have been more but the crew members involved in the altercation in Ten Forward had been confined to quarters awaiting Captain's Mast. A Terran male wearing a slightly crumpled lieutenant's uniform sat quietly on the bench in the single occupied cell, as far into the corner as he could get. She raised an eyebrow. He did not 'feel' like a drunk and disorderly... and even less like a hardened criminal. "What's his story?" she asked the Petty Officer, gesturing with her head.

The guard scowled in the direction of the prisoner. "That's Lieutenant Goyard." He almost spat the name, "He's the one who sabotaged the shuttle bay."

This was Goyard? The Romulan frowned and rose to her feet. "Open it."

He hesitated but obeyed. Goyard looked up warily as N'Sal stepped over the threshold. "Mind if I join you?"

Politely he stood up. Despite his circumstances he retained his impeccable manners. It would be rude to remain seated in the presence of a lady. She inclined her head in acknowledgement, made herself comfortable cross legged on the end of the bunk and waited for the Frenchman to sit. After a moment he did so, seating himself as far away from her as possible. He studied her carefully, taking in the honorary rank markings and the FedKIN patch on her sleeve. She was an investigator then. "You are here to question me, _Madame_?"

"I'd like to hear your side of the story"

"There is nothing to tell" he said sadly, "I go to the Ten Forward after my shift. They are talking of the aliens, the visitors." He hesitated. In his stressed state it was hard to remember the words in English. "They are very angry and I worry. I tell them that mutiny is not to be considered and I go back to my quarters." He sighed. "The next day I am arrested and accused of murder"

"Do you have... any enemies... anyone who might wish to see you blamed?"

_"Non Madame."_ He shook his head miserably, looking down at his hands.

"Look at me please, Lieutenant." For a moment he did not move, then slowly he obeyed, raising his dark brown eyes to meet hers. "Did you re-programme the computer to open the cargo bay doors?"

He looked horrified, "_Non Madame_, of course not!"

"Have you ever killed... in the course of your duties, in self defence or for any other reason?"

_"Non"_ he repeated, shaking his head. "Only in training simulations." He had still been at the academy when the Dominion War had ended; he had never been in a situation where killing had been necessary.

"Holograms don't count" she told him gently. "Are you covering for someone else who may have had something to do with the deaths?"

Again he shook his head. He didn't really know anyone on board the ship. With the admittedly self imposed language barrier he had struggled to make friends since his arrival on board. Besides, he would not help a traitor, he just did not know how to prove that.

"Verbally, please Lieutenant Goyard... and with eye contact"

He shrank back slightly at the reprimand but eventually found the words to speak, "Madame, I am a citizen of the Federation. I took an oath of loyalty to the Starfleet. I do not betray that oath"

N'Sal nodded and leaned slightly closer so that her face filled his field of vision and he could not doubt her sincerity. "I believe you" she promised.

He stared at her in confusion. "Why _Madame_? _Pourquoi_… Why do you believe me when all the evidence says that I am guilty?"

"Because I have looked into the eyes of killers and their eyes do not look like yours." N'Sal was a mercenary, a hired gun. She had been in prison more than once before accepting the job at FedKIN, had mixed with both guilty and innocent. She had more than once done at least some of the things Goyard was accused of and just for a moment she allowed him to see something of her world, of her character in her eyes; she allowed him to see everything she did not see in him.

"So tell me" she asked after a moment, "What contact have you had with Jonathan Price? Is he a friend?"

Shaken by what he had seen in her eyes, yet feeling oddly safe and secure in the knowledge that she would do her best to help him, he considered her question. Was Price a friend? "We are on different shifts so I do not know him well" he said thoughtfully, "But he has always been pleasant to me. We had coffee together in my quarters about a week ago." At N'Sal's sharp look he added hastily, "I have some real French coffee and a _cafetiere_, he said he would like to taste it."

"So you invited him back to your quarters to try it" N'Sal summarised. "Tell me, when did you first notice your ID was missing?"

"About a…" He stopped, a look of anger and betrayal crossing his face. He'd last used his ID when signing off just before joining Price for coffee. He'd left it on the desk in his quarters, he was certain of it. The next morning he had been unable to find it and had simply assumed that he had mislaid it.

"Don't tell me" the Romulan sighed, "It was right after your meeting with Price?" At Goyard's nod she sighed again. A few more pieces of the puzzle had just slotted together and the picture they formed was even uglier than any of the investigators had imagined it could be.


	41. Chapter 40

"So…" George said eventually, "Tell me of this le-matya"

"They are a large felinoid creature, about the size of a Terran lion with leathery grey or green skin and diamond markings" Kehlan told him, "Their claws and fangs are extremely poisonous. They are very dangerous. In all honesty, George, I am not at all certain that the Vulcans would allow the le-matya to be hunted. They are a vegetarian society. They do not condone killing."

The Predator grunted. "It would be disappointing if such worthy prey were to be unavailable for the hunt"

"However" she continued, "Recent scientific reports suggest they are starting to have problems with increased numbers of le-matya. They have done too well and have started to move into populated areas."

George inclined his head. "It is possible that we could assist with such a problem" he said thoughtfully. "Vulcan is a desert world is it not?" At Kehlan's nod of confirmation he continued, "We have more than one world where the le-matya would do well. Conservation is very important to us. To hunt a species to extinction would be criminal" He glanced at Kehlan before adding honestly, "and it would end the hunt permanently"

That was something Kehlan understood. The Klingons had very similar views about hunting, although they did not take it to the extremes that the Yautja did. "It would be worth putting the proposal to the Vulcans" she said, "Although you should not be surprised or disappointed if you get a polite refusal. There are many other worlds with suitable prey."

"As you say, there are many worlds" George acknowledged. His warm amber eyes stared intently into hers as he continued "but I think this is not what you wish to discuss with me. There are more important things we must speak of"

Uncharacteristically nervous, Kehlan hesitated. Down on the planet it had all seemed so simple. They'd had no choice but to work together for mutual survival. She had wanted so much to be able to talk with him, to communicate properly and now that they had that ability, words just seemed to be getting in the way, making things difficult. At least, she thought they were no longer relying solely on the Predator translator, useful though it was. Endeavour's universal translators had finally deciphered enough of the Yautja language to offer a reliable service. Lay people tended to assume erroneously that it was instant, that it could encounter a new language and translate it immediately. Those who lived and worked in space however understood the reality of the situation. Even for a computer, it took time to lean a new language and the more… alien… a language was, the longer it took and the Yautja language was more alien than most.

She almost growled. Why was she even thinking about the universal translator? Procrastination, she realised, anything to avoid the subject. This talk was long overdue, but now it was at hand she was allowing her nerves to get the better of her. It was time for honesty between them if the friendship they had begun on the planet was to survive. "I… everything has changed so much" she told him, "This entire mission has been a complete disaster – the temporal anomaly, a traitor and murderer somewhere on my ship, an admiral at Starfleet who's set us up to fail… "She shook her head. "And you… I don't know how to deal with the fact you're no longer the young Hunter I met. I don't know…"

The Predator placed a large, clawed hand on her arm, silencing her. "You arrre my frrriennnd." He spoke in English in an effort to get his point across, enunciating the alien words slowly and with great care. His accent was heavy and guttural but Kehlan understood him clearly. "But must rrrespect Elder"

Shame filled Kehlan at the reminder of how badly she had messed up. She did understand George's words, not just the words but the message he was trying to convey. She had served with her senior staff for many years and they counted among her closest friends. Even so, there was a line that must not be crossed; things that could be said off duty and in private that could not be said while in uniform. She was the captain, she had a position to maintain and she expected her officers to respect that. "I would not have allowed one of my officers to speak to me in the way I spoke to you" Kehlan admitted quietly, "I am truly sorry"

The old Predator stared down at her, seeing the sincerity in her dark eyes. "I overreacted" he said honestly, reverting back to his own tongue and allowing the translator to make his words clear. He had made an effort to learn the language that had become known as Federation Standard and could understand it fairly well but his mandibles and the lack of fleshy lips made the words difficult for him to pronounce. "I lost my temper and acted like an arrogant Young Blood." His mandibles twitched in a very slight smile, "You bring out both the best and the worst in me. Our friendship will, I think, be… interesting for both of us"

Interesting? Kehlan was reminded of the old Chinese curse 'May you live in interesting times'. She shook her head. "I think we both have a lot to learn" she said quietly, "But I care too much not to try." She stopped, flushing slightly at the turn the conversation had taken. She was making it sound like... Thankfully, her friend did not seem to have noticed, or if he did, he knew better than to comment.

"I am the Ambassador to your people" George reminded her, "There will be many more meetings between us. There will be time for us to learn and many opportunities for us to Hunt side by side."

"Do you think" she said after a moment, "that our next meeting could be somewhere a little more sensible? Somewhere that isn't full of undetectable temporal eddies?

The old Predator trilled with laughter. "Kay-lan" he said. "Eight hundred years ago, when I took my _Chiva_, you were there. You hunted with me, fought by my side and saved my life more than once. Together we killed the _Kainde Amedha_ queen."

"I remember" she said, aware that she was missing something obvious but not quite sure what. Temporal mechanics were not one of her strongest points. "You saved my life as well"

"Yes, I did" he said. "We survived because of each other. Alone we would both be dead. Kay-lan, the meeting was here because it had to be here. And you are here because I asked for your presence on the diplomatic team. Because eight hundred years ago you WERE here"

Kehlan groaned. "Predestined temporal paradox. Do you have any idea how much I hate those things. They give me a headache!"

"Meeting you changed me, Kay-lan" George said, and something in his tone told her he was deadly serious now. "Because of you I learned lessons that many of my people do not learn until they are much older, if they learn at all. That other races have value, that we can cooperate with them, learn from them and work together for the benefit of both."

"We have to make this treaty work, George" Kehlan said, her tone equally serious. "Your friendship means too much to me to lose it now." She sighed before continuing, "When I was rescued from the planet, I expected to meet up with you back on the ship. Then I found out about the time jump – and after eight hundred years, I thought you were long dead. I…" She stopped, shaking her head in remembered distress.

"We are a long lived race" George acknowledged, with a trill of gentle amusement. "Provided, that is, that we do not get ourselves killed in the Hunt."

The old Predator glanced across the holodeck. The two Yautja warriors were fighting side by side with the Ooman and the Klingon. As he watched, the Ooman marine kicked a monster away from Da'rian only to be caught by surprise as another monster attacked from behind, grabbing him by the throat and shaking him like a rat. Kihr'yende leapt forward, crossing the clearing in one bound. He yanked the holographic monster's head back, forcing it to let go of its prey. Then Kreltek was there, knife in hand, cutting its exposed throat.

Above the sounds of fighting, George could hear conversation and laughter. He touched Kehlan's arm to get her attention, then gestured towards the combatants "There will be an alliance between our peoples" he said, "It has already begun"

Thank you to all who have followed the story and who have left reviews and comments. I really hope you are enjoying it so far. Ive been asked various questions, such as why choose such a silly place for the meeting, why don't the Preds have transporters etc... The comments gave me alot of ideas and things to think about and hopefully this chapter has answered a few of those questions. The story is almost done now... this was supposed to be the penultimate chapter but the characters had other ideas and there are still a few loose ends to tie up. So I estimate another 3 chapters, 4 at the absolute most. I already have ideas for a followup story, taking place about a year later and am starting to make notes.

Also, there are several other stories about these characters my personal favourite being "A Fear Faced" - a short story that explains why Kehlan is scared of spiders. Well wouldnt you be if you met one that was four feet tall?

A big thank you also to my Beta reader, Sal, who, over the last few chapters has been more cowriter than beta, hence my giving her a fairly big part in the story.


	42. Chapter 42

Ive had a couple of messages asking where the next chapter is. My aplogies for the delay, September is a really busy time for me. In six days Starbase 24 is hosting its 7th Annual charity banquet in aid of Macmillan Cancer (and I am the organiser) so its a huge amount of work on top of my normal full time job. I still have two costumes to finish, raffle prizes to buy and many other small jobs to accomplish to make this event a success. On top of that, my beta reader/co writer is quite ill and its fairly serious.

This story is not abandoned. I have approimately two chapters left to write... maybe a third if a rather funny scene weve been working on pans out (although thats not looking likely at the moment). The characters are being difficult, they are not telling me what I need to know to get this written down. So its percolating away and the next chapter is currently about half done.

Meanwhile, plotting and scheming is underway for the followup to this story. It will have some funny scenes and some serious and hopefully scary ones... involving Predators playing paintball and a dangerous xenomorph infestation.

Here's a very small preview of one scene, hope you enjoy it...

The three Predators listened with interest to Kehlan's explanation. George trilled with amused disbelief as understanding dawned. "You are telling me, Kay-lan" he growled, "that you want our warriors to HUNT you in the woods?"

"It's a game" Kehlan said quickly, "a team game and you aren't allowed to use real weapons, only the paint guns. Besides…" She added, "I intend to split the teams so each team has a mix of Yautja, Klingon and Federation"

Guan Thwei leaned forward, his warm honey coloured eyes glittering with amusement. "I would like to play this game." He glanced at his fellow Elder before continuing, "It has been too long since we participated in such a hunt"

George shook his head, the action sending his heavy braids flying around his face. "We are not infants. It would not be…"

His words were cut off by Guan Thwei's large hand landing on his shoulder and giving a quick hard shove. The ambassador's eyes widened in shock. "You challenge me?"

Guan Thwei trilled with laughter at the expression on his old friend's face. "I do" he confirmed. "I challenge you to this game of Paint Ball."

A low warning growl rumbled through George's body before he relaxed and gave in. "For the honour of Storm Wind Clan, I accept your challenge"

Kehlan almost groaned. One way or another, this stupid game was going to cause a war.


End file.
